AN ANGEL IS MY HERO
by reading.club
Summary: A story of what Harry's life could have been if Petunia had made the choice of not taking him in. Controversial topics are mentioned though not in great detail. Rated M for a reason
1. Chapter 1

**AN ANGEL IS MY HERO**

 _ **YOUR CHOICES ARE WHAT MAKES YOU WHO YOU ARE– CHAPTER 1**_

 **PETUNIA**

The baby had a scar on his forehead. It wasn't just the son of her abnormal sister, but he was sure to be just as abnormal as her. This was the thought that was driving her mad ever since she had seen the baby on her doorstep. The first thing she had wanted to do was to close that door and hope he didn't survive the night. She couldn't be held responsible for that, how could she have known the baby was left there in a cold night? But stupid Mrs. Hellfire had decided to look out her window. She couldn't risk Mrs. Hellfire talking to the neighbors if she had seen the baby there. Granted it was a very dark night, very late, and she was a very old woman. How she was still alive it is a mistery to Petunia. Maybe she was abnormal as well. Could it be? Could Mrs. Hellfire be a freak? A freak so near her house?

Now she didn't just have a freak near her house, now she had one inside her house. Probably living with her. What would her husband say? She had never even told him she had a sister. To him, she was an only child.

Petunia had been invited to her sister wedding, but she had never even entertain the idea of inviting her or her monster of a husband to hers. She had received a picture that moved (as if that hadn't been the first clue not to send it) when the mini monster had been born, but Petunia had never told Lily about her even being pregnant at all. Her son was so much better than the monster. Her son was normal, and beautiful. The most beautiful baby anyone had and will ever see. She was sure he was going to break hearts when he was older. He was going to be a mamas boy, of that she was sure.

The monster was skinny, and had a horrible scar. Maybe she could cover it with makeup, or a hat. What was she thinking? She couldn't keep the monster! She had Dudley to think about. She couldn't risk her baby to the monster. Doesn't matter what Mrs. Hellfire thought or saw. That monster was not going to live inside her house!

Petunia picked up little Harry, careful of touching him as little as possible in case the abnormal thing was contagious. She couldn't risk it. He put the baby in the doorstep where he find him and closed the door behind her.

It was late which meant her little Dudley was fast asleep, he would be 2 very soon. How fast the time flies when you are as happy as she was. She wished her baby would stay a baby forever, but at the same time she so wanted to see him grow up.

Even though she was very tired, she was waiting on her husband. He was working late today, and as the perfect wife she was, she was going to wait for him and serve him dinner before going to sleep.

How should she keep herself busy? Cleaning of course!

Her friends joked about her obsession of always making sure everything in the house was spotless. They called her Cinderella, Cindy for short. She liked that name way better than Petunia, so she encouraged them.

The kitchen could never be perfectly clean, so she decided to start there even though she had already cleaned that day. Twice.

That was where her husband found her an hour later.

 **VERNON**

It was the third time this week he had told his wife he was working late. He was starting to feel guilty about it. He knew he shouldn't lie to her, but he also knew she wouldn't want to know the truth.

Petunia was the perfect wife, and Dudley was the perfect son. They all made the perfect family, which was all he have ever wanted for his life. At least that was what he had thought until he had it. It was a very boring life. Nothing out of the ordinary or exciting ever happened. Even sex with his wife was predictable and a chore. For three months now, he had been staying late at the office at least once a week. And stress was leaving him so tired that he couldn't even think about sex. Secretly he thought Petunia liked the idea of not having to sleep with him as much as he did.

He couldn't divorce her, he knew that, what would people think if he did? Which meant he had no other choice but to find excitement elsewhere. He drove a couple of hours after work to a nearby town and let out his frustration there. The first two months with every girl he could find. But he had decided it was better to just have one, less of a problem. The girl was younger than him, she was only 20 years old. Red slightly wavy hair, up to her shoulders. Tiny waist, short. Perky breast and no ass. She was perfect for what he wanted. The girl, Charlie, had become a constant for him for 2 weeks now. This week, 3 times. She wasn't cheap, but she was worth it. She was the only reason Vernon could walk back into his house every night to his wife.

He was walking toward the door when he thought he saw a baby laying on his doorstep. He must be more tired than he thought of course. Why would a baby be there?

But there was one, a tiny skinny, black haired one. And he had been in an accident, a recent one. The baby had a scar on his forehead that was still red. If the baby hadn't been on his doorstep it wouldn't have been his problem. Whoever thought about leaving it here better be death for dropping this problem to his life. He wanted something exciting to happen in his life, not something that would ruin the perfect façade he had of a life. The exciting thing shouldn't happen in this town!

Not having a choice he picked the baby and walked inside.

He wished Petunia had been already asleep, which was the reason he came so late in the first place, but of course she wouldn't be. The perfect wife always waited on the husband. Although the baby served as a perfect excuse not to sleep with her this night. Maybe this baby wouldn't be so bad after all.

He walked towards the kitchen, where he knew his wife would be, with the baby on his arms. The reaction was not what he had expected.

As soon as he walked into the kitchen, his wife screeched.

The surprise nearly made him drop the baby, thankfully he didn't. A walk into the hospital, at midnight, with a baby with a cracked skull wasn't what he wanted to do.

-Are you trying to make me deaf woman?- Vernon asked his wife irritated, trying to calm the now crying baby in his arms.

Which made him ponder on the fact that the baby hadn't been crying before that, even though the night was a very cold one and he had no idea how long the baby had been alone outside.

He could see his wife getting mad, scared and annoyed, but not saying a word. Just staring at the baby, with hatred maybe? She must just be tired. Maybe she thinks the baby is his? He wouldn't be that stupid.

-Calm down woman, we need to call the police. Here take the baby- As soon as Vernon tried to hand the baby over, his wife recoiled. Maybe it was hatred what he saw on her eyes.

-Petunia, darling, it is just a baby. I promise it wont hurt you-

If looks could kill Vernon would be death three times already. Now what was wrong with his wife?

-Petunia! Snap out of it!- Vernon tried to hand over the baby again, but his wife recoiled once more. She was running out of room, she would soon reach the wall and wouldn't be able to get away from the apparently demon he was holding in his arm. She must be going crazy, which wouldn't be too bad. He could drop her off in an asylum and tell everyone about the tragic story of how his wife went crazy. He would take Dudley to live with his grandmother of course, so he could grow up to be just like his dad and Vernon would be free to do whatever he wanted. That would mean no perfect life though, he needed his perfect life. He couldn't believe he needed Petunia to be sane. Now he hoper she wasn't going crazy, which depressed him.

The baby was still crying and it was starting to give him a headache.

-Fine, you call the police- Vernon told his wife annoyed and walked to the living room still the baby on his arms.

 **PETUNIA**

How couldn't she have thought about the fact that Vernon would see the monster when he got home? How could she be so stupid? What was she going to do now? How was she going to explain it?

She was sure of one thing. That thing wasn't going to live in the same house as her baby! Maybe she should call the police and fake ignorance. She could certainly say she had no idea who that thing was. But what if they did their sciency things and discover they were related. That made her want to vomit. She hated the fact that they were somehow related.

She secretly hoped that Lily had been adopted, she was sure to ask her mother next time they took Dudley for a visit.

But first, the problem at hand. Call the police or not? Tell Vernon everything or fake ignorance?

It was a no brainer. She would risk being outed by the police. She could always say that she had no idea the monster was his nephew after all, he was not in good terms with her sister. Now late sister apparently. Should she tell her mother that? Is not as if Lily had been in touch with her for some time now, she had disappeared for more than a year. Except for the moving picture a little over a year ago, Petunia had actually thought Lily had died. At least now she was really dead.

Feeling that this was her best chance, Petunia grabbed the phone.

The letter had stated that she needed to keep it in order to be protected from some powerful freak. But the monster was the reason why she and her family needed the protection in the first place. No little monster meant no big monster.

-With the police department?- Petunia asked the operator –A baby was left at my doorstep a couple of.. minutes ago we think- She was about to say hours but corrected herself just in time.

After the police assured her a car would be arriving at her place shortly, she walked towards the living room where she could still hear the little monster wailing. He better not wake her Dudley with all that racket!

-The police should be here In a couple of minutes- Petunia stated trying not to look at the monster but failing miserably. She couldn't keep making faces at it, the idea of him just made her sick to her stomach. She wanted it out of her house!

-Make him stop, he will wake up Dudley- Petunia snapped.

She could see Vernon was very confused at how she was acting, but she didn't much care at the moment.

-If I could make him stop don't you think I would have done so already?- Vernon snapped back.

She could see him trying to cradle him, or bounce him a little on his arms, trying to no avail to shut the monster up.

The police could get here faster than they said they would.

A couple of minutes later of Vernon still trying to calm it down and her just glaring at the thing passed until a knocking was heard at the door.

Petunia let out a breath she didn't knew she was holding and practically sprinted towards it.

As soon as she opened the door she felt as if Christmas had come early this year, A couple of man in uniform where waiting for her to invite them in. Where were her manners?

-Please come in- She moved a little to the left so they could walk in, and closed the door behind them.

-Would you like a cup of tea?- She offered, hoping they would decline her.

-Thank you madam but we should really get going- The policeman on the right said.

-Of course, please follow me- She led them to where she had left Vernon a couple of minutes ago.

–My husband came in with a baby on his arms and told me to call the police, I can only imagine what that poor thing must have suffered on this cold night- She tried to sound as concern as she could master.

She wasn't doing a good job she was sure of it, but the police shouldn't even think about the possibility of her lying. She just didn't have a reason to lie; she had no idea who that monster was after all.

The scene was just how she had left it. Vernon was still bouncing the monster, and the monster was still wailing.

 **VERNON**

He felt relief when he saw his wife walking into the living room with a couple of uniformed man.

-This baby was abandoned on our doorstep- He stated while walking over to the policemen and handing to the one with the big mustache the baby.

Now the baby was the government's problem. First time Vernon was actually glad the government existed.

-Could you please give us a statement of what happened Mr...- The one with no baby asked, getting a notepad and a pen out.

-Mr Dursley, Vernon Dursley- Vernon sat down and invited the men to sit down with him. -Petunia bring this gentlemen a cup of tea-

Petunia's annoyance was palpable, but he still had no idea why she was so out of character this night.

-I had to stay late at the office tonight, and when I was about to walk into my house I noticed a baby in my doorstep. I picked it up and asked my wife to call the police- Short and to the point. It was like he knew anything more than that anyway.

-Was there a note or anything else left with the baby?- the one with the notepad asked. – No-

-Then I think this is all we need-

The policemen started getting up just when Petunia was coming back with two cups of tea.

-We are sorry madam, but we do ought to go- The one with the baby apologized.

-Don't worry about it, I am sure you are needed somewhere- Petunia answered with a smile.

A genuine smile.

Vernon really hoped Petunia wasn't going crazy.

 **WILLIAM**

William Abel was now 30 years old and living his dream. You could argue that he didn't dream big since he was a patrol cop, but it was exactly were he wanted to be. He was sure this was the way he could help the most.

When he was 6 years old he had gone to live with his grandmother. His mother had died on childbirth and his father had been killed in a work related accident. He still remembered his father. Whenever they had gone to the park, his father would always buy food for anyone he saw there that look as if they were hungry. Whenever they walked to school his father would say hello to everyone he saw on the way. He was the one that would help an old lady cross the street, climb a tree to help a cat get down, buy an ice cream to a child that had drop theirs. They weren't rich or anything, but they had always had enough. William still missed his father, but he loved his grandmother and could not imagine not being raised by the woman that had raised his hero.

He had always known he wanted to do something where he could help everyone. Fireman had been an option, as had doctor, but policeman had been what he had liked the most. When he told his grandmother this when he was fifteen she had been very supportive and had even talked Mr. Jerkins, the captain at the time, to let him help on the weekends and on summers. At eighteen he had started the road to becoming a policemen by being accepted to the academy.

Ever since he had been able to help countless of people, but at the same time he hadn't been able to help what he thought were too many people.

This time he was going to help.

He had a baby on his arms right now. He couldn't even think of anyone abandoning someone that looked as helpless as this baby did. As soon as he had left 4 Privet Drive, the baby had stopped crying. Mrs Dursley he thought was a very strange woman, and Mr Dursley had seem nice enough.

His partner and best friend, Joshua Alec, and him were going to take the baby to the hospital first, to make sure he hadn't been neglected; other than the fact that he had been abandoned in the middle of the freezing night.

After 45 minutes of waiting in the reception area, Dr Francine came back with the baby.

-Except for the scar on his forehead there is nothing wrong with him- Dr Francine said with a smile.

William and Joshua smiled relieved and took the baby back.

Now they had to take this baby to child services. They knew someone there who they were sure would take good care of him and place him in the best place she could fine. She was a beautiful blonde girl that was currently Joshua's crush. Not that he would ever do anything about it. He was too shy to talk to her of anything not related to the job. William made a mental note of trying to help out his friend.

They had called ahead to make sure Lidya, Joshua's crush, was working this night. She was. 20 minutes later they were waiting for her in the lobby of a very tall and busy, even though it was now 4am, government building.

 **LIDYA**

Lidya Aiken had been packed with work for the last couple of weeks. She was currently trying to place 15 kids from the ages of 3 to 16 years old, 8 boys and 7 girls. But when William and Joshua had called she hadn't been able to say no.

She was still hoping William would ask her out someday, or maybe she would get some courage and ask him out herself. What was she thinking? Of course she wouldn't ask him out. She had to wait for him to do so, that was the proper thing to do. She was a lady after all. Lidya just hoped he would ask soon.

She was too nervous to see him that night, she hadn't slept for days and it showed. The coffee wasn't helping anymore. She had gone to the bathroom to clean herself up as much as she could as soon as they had called. She hoped she looked presentable enough.

When Rosie had found her to tell her there were a couple of policemen waiting for her, she flattened her pencil skirt and saw herself once more in the mirror. Thinking there was nothing else she could do, she walked out and went to meet them.

William might have been the main reason she had said yes to helping this baby. But as soon as she saw the baby, she knew that little bundle of joy was going to be all the reason she needed to make sure he was placed in the best possible place she could find.

She fell in love as soon as she saw him and held him in her arms. The way he sleepily had opened his eyes just enough for her to see that brilliant green color. The way he had cuddled to her chest and fallen asleep as peacefully as only a baby could.

-What is his name?- She asked, not taking her eyes of him for a second and trying not to wake him up.

-No idea. He was abandoned outside a house- William answered -We already took him to Dr. Francine, he seems to be in perfect health-

Dr Francine was the to go doctor of everyone in the child services business, he always had the time for them and he was great with children.

-What about that scar?- she asked while moving the part of the baby's hair that was covering the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

-He already had it when he was found. It looks to be recent- William answered once more.

Who could even think about abandoning a baby? Who could even think about hurting a baby? Especially one as beautiful as the one she was currently holding.

This was the reason she did what she did. She had to help those that deserve help the most. The ones that aren't able to help themselves. She had a voice; she was going to be their voice and strength. She was going to help every child she could, even if that meant not having a full night sleep ever again.

She had the perfect place in mind. An orphanage located in Berkshire. It was small, they didn't take older kids nor did they take more than 10 kids at the time. They were strict, but they were caring. Now she had to make sure this little baby was accepted into their walls.

Lidya did something that was strongly discouraged in her line of work. She took the baby with her and started calling him Ben. After the night, or morning, Ben had come into her life, she had called Berkshire's orphanage relentlessly and beg them to take Ben in. They kept saying they were at full capacity and just couldn't take him in.

Since this was her day off, she had decided to drive there and try one more time. Face to face and with Ben with her, she was sure she was going to have a positive response.

 **EMMA**

At 60 years old, Emma Lovegood often felt tired, yet she loved her work. Shaping kids into becoming adults everyone could be proud of was her calling. She loved it even more when she had to see a couple of young or even old married couple taking one of her kids and them shaping the child into an adult they could be proud of. Every single kid deserved a family, but unfortunately not all of them would have one. She was determined to be the family of the ones that stayed.

She had 10 kids at this time under her care, 4 girls and 6 boys. Julianne, Natalie, Gabrielle and Holly, 10, 9, 4 and 2 years old respectively. Craig, Dorian, David, Drew and Kurt, 15, 12, 7, 4, 3 and 2 respectively. Craig and Natalie were siblings and their parents had left them in the doorsteps of the orphanage when Natalie had been days old. Julianne, David and Drew had been taken there by the police a couple of years ago, they had all lost their parents in different car accidents in a period of one year. Gabrielle and Holly had literally knocked on her door looking for food a couple of months earlier, Dorian had been in an abusive home until a year ago and Kurt had been born there to a 12 year old who had been raped by her father, the girl had died in childbirth.

Emma had a son, Xenophilius, whom she rarely saw. Every time people asked about him, she just smiled and said he lived in a different world than she did. Even though people thought she was being dismissive, she was actually being quite honest.

There was this world she had once been a part of but decided to leave behind. She loved the muggle world, and she thought this was where she was mostly needed.

She hadn't been to the other world in more than 30 years, she hadn't seen her son since he had graduated from school. She knew she had a granddaughter, Luna, but she had never met her. That was the only thing she regretted from her decision of not wanting anything to do with that world.

It wasn't that she hated that world, she had loved every second she had been there. She felt that she had to choose one or the other. She couldn't be a part of both, otherwise she would never be of full help to either.

She was always on the lookout of a wizard boy or girl between her children. In 30 years there hadn't been one.

With time she had become less observant.

The baby Lidya was holding was a very helpless little thing. He needed her and she knew it. It would be very unjust of her to take this baby in when there were a lot of other kids that needed her help and she kept declining such help.

She had help, two lovely young girls, Lidya's age.

-I am sorry darling, I just don't have the space nor help needed to take more children-

-I am willing to help- Lidya blurted. Emma could see that those words had surprised even her when she said them.

-Don't you live in London?- Emma asked, hoping to get Lidya to take back her words.

-I can move- the blonde young girl felt determined.

-You would move?-

-If I come work here, how many more kids could you be willing to take?-

-I can have 5 kids per adult, me not included-

-How many beds do you have-

-I have the capacity to have 'til 25 kids-

-I have the perfect 15 kids to fill those empty beds- Lidya smiled.

Emma had apparently given her the answer she was looking for. The old lady would have loved nothing more than to have a full house, but she just didn't have the help needed.

-I know the perfect two people for the job-

-If you and your two friends are approved by the proper authorities, I will welcome you and you fifteen children- Emma giggled.


	2. Chapter 2

AN ANGEL IS MY HERO

FAMILY IS WHERE YOUR HEART IS– CHAPTER 2

BEN

His birthday was the best day of the year. Not only did they always had cake but the sky celebrated with beautiful colors and loud sounds as well. Mr. Abel had once told him that the colors and sound were called fireworks.

He had once called Mrs. Lovegood grandmother and had had a lecture for it. He now made sure to call everyone by their name, lectures bore him too much. They took time away from him being able to play with his friends.

There were a lot of kids living in his house, Mrs. Aiken had once told him that they were only there while they found a family of their own. He hadn't even know they were supposed to be looking for one. And why would he be looking for a family when he already had one anyway? It just didn't make sense, yet he just smiled and nodded to be able to go and play.

He had two best friends in here, Paulinne and Josh. They were the same age as him, at least they look like they were.

Paulinne could be a little mean sometimes and very bossy, but she loved to run and do crazy stuff which Ben loved to do, and Josh was very loud and loved being the center of attention.

They were the babies of the house, and they had come to live here with him at the same time as Mrs Aiken, Mr Abel and Mr Alec, at least that was what Mrs Aiken often told him as a bedtime story.

He didn't remember the story exactly as Mrs Aiken told it, but it was basically about how Mr Abel had found him when he was a baby and taken him to Mrs Aiken, then Mrs Aiken had taken him to Mrs Lovegood to live with her. She had then decided to live here with him and brought Mr Abel and Mr Alec with her, as well as a lot of the children that were here as well. Mrs Aiken told it a lot better, it was his favorite story to hear after all, but he could never remember the exact words.

He was told he was now 3 years old, and that the world celebrated a whole new year the same day he celebrated his birthday. He loved the idea of everyone in the world celebrating this day.

The sun wasn't out yet which irritated him, he wasn't allowed to wake anyone up if he couldn't see the sun in the sky unless it was an emergency. Apparently being bored wasn't considered an emergency, he had been told several times. Nor being hungry, nor wanting to talk. If the sun wasn't in the sky, he was supposed to be sleeping.

Ben didn't like to sleep too much; he liked the lights in the sky when the sun wasn't out. They made him smile, as if they were watching over him.

Since he wasn't allowed to talk to anyone in the house, he talked to the lights.

-Today is my birthday. I am going to eat lots of cake and I am going to play all day with Paulinne and Josh. Maybe Natalie will sing me a song and hopefully Craig will come visit us. I miss Craig, he left a long time ago and hadn't come back. Mrs Aiken said it was because Craig was no longer a kid like me, so he couldn't live in this house anymore, but Mrs Lovegood, Mrs Aiken nor any of them where kids either, why couldn't Craig stay like them? Am I suppose to leave when I am no longer a kid? Where would I live?- Ben started to feel a little scared of his thoughts, but quickly forgot them as soon as he saw Josh beginning to stir on the bed beside him.

He got off his bed and carefully sat on the edge of Josh's bed just staring at him, waiting for his friend to wake up. He wasn't allowed to wake Josh up, but for some reason he always did when he sat on Josh's bed. It was as if Ben knew exactly when Josh would wake up so he just sat on the bed to wait.

-Why are you always there when I wake up- Josh said while putting the cover over his head. As every person that just woke up, his eyes were red barely open and his platinum hair was very messy.

-Wake up!- Ben yelled –It's my birthday!- and started jumping on the bed.

-Shut up Ben! The sun is not out!- Josh called out from beneath the covers. The other boys in the room where starting to grunt and stir on their beds.

Ben put his hands over his mouth and looked through the window. The sun was just coming out, he could see.

-Yes it is! Look!- Ben took the covers off Josh throwing his friend off the bed and pointed at the window, which just made Josh scowl.

-Everyone wake up! It's my birthday- Ben started screaming while he ran to turn on the lights of the room.

There were a lot of boys sleeping in the same room and they were all used to Ben being their alarm clock everyday, even on the weekends when there was no point on them waking up early. They just didn't get angry about it anymore, what was the point?

-Happy Birthday Benji boy- a very sleepy David walked towards him to give him a birthday hug. The rest of the boys soon followed.

As soon as Ben got a hug from everyone in the room, the boys started getting ready for the day. Ben being awake and ready for some time now, decided to go outside and see who else was there ready to congratulate him.

-Happy Birthday Ben!-

Mrs Aiken was in the middle of the hallway with something in her arms and a big smile.

Ben could not stop jumping up and down of excitement when he saw her. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing her usual gray uniform. It consisted of a flowy gray dress that ended on her knees and long sleeves.

-Is that a present for me?-

He had never received anything for his birthday, it was against the rules for anyone to receive a gift if there weren't enough gifts for everyone in the house, which meant that they only received gifts on Christmas from the government and people they didn't know. Apparently people outside the walls liked giving presents to kids on Christmas, he would never question them about that, he was perfectly content with the gifts.

-This is a gift for everyone- Mrs Aiken smiled even brighter and got to her knees so Ben could see what she had on her arms.

It was weird looking, he head never seen anything like it before. He didn't like it.

-What is it?- Ben was a little confused.

-This is a baby girl, her name is Katie. She is going to be living with us now-

Ben had never seen a baby before, but he now thought babies were very ugly and smelled very badly. He made a face and took a step back, which made Lidya laugh.

-She needs to be changed. As soon as she is clean we will go and have your birthday breakfast- She slowly got up and started walking away.

Ben followed her running otherwise he wouldn't be able to keep up with the long steps the young woman made.

-Is Katie going to be sleeping on Paulinne's room?- Ben asked.

Paulinne and all the girls had a separate room from the boys, he wasn't allowed in there but William had assured him that it looked exactly the same as the boy's room. It meant that there were beds on both sides of the room, the cover of all the beds were exactly the same color, dark red. The walls wear bear and there was a large windown with light gray curtains covering them. In the boys room, the curtains were never closed, Ben made sure of it. He loved to see the lights in the sky at night, and he needed to see that the sun was out on the day. The outdoors was just better than the indoors.

He was sure Paulinne wouldn't be happy about having Katie in her room. She would have nightmares with that thing so near.

-No, Katie is still a baby. Babies don't sleep in big boys beds like you do. There is a special bed for her- She walked into a room Ben hadn't ever been before, at least not that he remembered. There were a couple of cages in there, at least that is what Ben thought they looked like. They were all white and looked to be made of wood, they were high and had bars around the, what he thought would be the bed. It was smaller than his bed but much higher.

Lidya put Katie in one of them after she had cleaned her up.

If it were possible, the process of cleaning her up made the smell even worse. Now that she was clean, it was bearable.

Babies must be very dangerous if they need to be put in cages.

-You used to sleep in this room when you got here- That made Ben uncomfortable, had he been as dangerous as Katie? Had he been as ugly and smelly?

-Will she hurt us?- Ben asked with curiosity peeking into the white cage that contained Katie. He was tall enough to peek over the bars so he peeked between them.

-Hurt us? Of course not- Lidya laughed –Babies can't hurt us-

-Then why is she in a cage?- Lidya couldn't help but laugh harder.

-This is not a cage, these are babies beds. They are like this so the baby won't fall out of bed. Babies aren't able to take care of themselves, we need to take care of them. Would you help me take care of Katie?-

Ben didn't want to take care of Katie, but he felt as if he had to. So he nodded not sure of it being a bad idea.

-We will let Katie sleep while we go to breakfast- Lydia whispered and started guiding Ben out of the room.

-Sleep? But the sun is out!- Ben exclaimed loudly.

-Babies sleep a lot- Lidya smiled pushing him out of the room gently.

For breakfast they all had pancakes with syrup. As usual it was a loud room, everyone was talking over everyone, but what could you expect with so many children in one room? Ben was sitting in a table with both Paulinne and Josh on his side, and in front of him Kurt, Holly and Drew. Ben liked them enough but they acted as if they were their bosses sometime because they were older. They didn't look much older than him as his friends though. David looked way older and he never treated any of them like that.

At midday Ben had cut a cake after demanding everyone sing the happy birthday song first and making Natalie sing by herself after. Ben just loved Natalie's voice.

Craig hadn't come as Ben had wished but he quickly forgot about it.

Mrs Aiken had disappeared several times during the day to go see Katie, which made Ben like Katie even less.

-What do you mean ugly?- Paulinne asked when Ben started telling them about Katie.

The three friends sat in the middle of the yard in a tight circle. It was a very cold day but they had huge coats covering their bodies, so they barely felt it.

-She is ugly and she smells like poop- Ben made a face.

-But how do babies look?- Josh asked exasperated.

-Like pink little monsters- Ben threw his arms exasperated, he had explained this several times already.

-Iuk, I hate pink- Paulinne stated and started getting up –Well, who cares anyway? We should go play-

Ben, Paulinne and Josh played all day with several of the other children that lived in the house. They played tag and soccer, Ben's team always won. He was sure everyone was letting him win, but he didn't care, he loved to win.

For dinner they had a glass of milk and cookies while everyone started telling stories. Mrs. Lovegood didn't believe in having a large meal for dinner, she said that eating too much that late was a sure way of getting nightmares. Ben was sure she was telling them the truth since he couldn't remember ever having a nightmare, not that he knew what a nightmare was.

Joanne, who was one of the older girls told a story that she had come up with about a girl that lived in a beautiful house that had a small garden full of flowers, who was very happy and had a lot friends.

Mary told the story of little riding hood and Billy told them the story of the three little pigs.

Just when the sun was about to leave the sky Mrs. Lovegood told everyone it was time to get ready for bed.

Ben loved his birthday; it always started the day before with fireworks and ended with cookies. He loved his family and couldn't imagine not being right were he was.

Lidya guided him back to his room by the hand, with all the boys walking behind them.

-Would you tell me a bedtime story?- Ben asked her sleepily.

Once in his room, she tucked him into the bed and sat down in a chair that she situated in the middle of the room, so that everyone could hear her.

-William and Joshua had always been best friends, they met at the police academy when they were very young. They became partners once they graduated. One very cold October night they received a call. They were supposed to go to 4 Privet Drive in London where a baby was waiting for them. They took care of the baby and called me to help. I knew that the baby was special, just like all the babies are, so I knew there was only one place for him, Berkshire orphanage. This baby had no mommy or daddy, we didn't know his name, so I decided to call him Ben. Mrs Lovegood fell in love with the baby as soon as she saw them and open the doors for him and me. Before that day my job was to place kids into homes where they could be loved and taken care of, and I had 15 children with me at the moment. Mrs Lovegood of course welcomed as all. I went back to London to get everyone ready and to talk to William and Joshua, I was sure they would want to come with me to take care of all of you. They weren't as sure as I was though. Joshua listened carefully to my reasoning but William was very skeptical about the idea of leaving his dream job and changing his address. I pointed out that the fact that he was a policeman was because he wanted to help, and in what better way could he help but by taking care of children and making sure they become awesome grown ups. With time I convinced him. Joshua didn't need too much convincing he had said yes almost the same day I had come to them. A couple of months later almost 20 people from London were moving to Berkshire to become on big happy family. Some of those people have left us to have a family of their own but they will always have a place in our hearts. Someday all of you will have a family of your own as well, some sooner than others but everyone will-

It wasn't exactly a normal bedtime story, but it was a hopeful and beautiful one, and they were all the main characters. It was how they had come to be.

Just like every night before that, Ben was the only one still awake. He was looking through the window sad that this night there where no lights in the sky to talk to.

When he was about to give up on waiting for the lights to come out a couple of balls of lights appeared in front of him, he was sure that if he tried to reach them he would be able to touch him, unlike the ones that were in the sky almost every night. These ones were just as beautiful or maybe even more so, but he was afraid that they could go away.

Tired, he slowly walked back to his bed and saw that the lights followed closely.

Laying on his bed with only his head visible outside the covers he stared at them. Instead of talking to them as he did with the other ones, he smiled and just looked at them until he couldn't keep his eyes open.

LIDYA

Ben will always be her favorite, she knew she shouldn't feel that way but that boy had stole her heart since the first time she had seen him.

This morning she had been very happy to celebrate Ben's birthday. It wasn't really his birthday since they had no idea what the boy's real name was or any personal information from before they met him, but she felt that the first of January was a perfect day to celebrate his birth.

It was very early in the morning, earlier than 6am but she knew Ben was an early riser. She wanted to be the first to give him a birthday hug. Walking towards the boy's room she got distracted by a knock on the front door, since everyone else was surely still sleeping, Lidya made a detour towards the entrance.

A baby was wrapped in a pink blanket laying inside a cardboard box, the blanket had the name Katherine printed on it. Katie, the name Lidya was now using in her head for the baby, was maybe a few days old. Lidya picked her up and went straight to Emma hoping she was already in her office. She was.

-We got a new year's eve present- Lidya said with a weak smile once she got permission to go into the office from the older woman.

-Oh Dear- Emma exclaimed, not being able to not show the sadness in her face -I really would wish woman would stop opening her legs if they weren't ready for the responsability that comes with their actions-

Lidya was shocked to hear those words coming out of her superior and friend. She couldn't master giving a response.

-Take her to the nursing room, I will notify child services and the police- Emma dismissed her.

Walking towards the nursing room she had bumped into her little boy, as soon as she had introduced Katie to him she had noticed the slight repulsion the boy had felt. This just warmed her heart and made her smile internally. Lidya knew Ben didn't really hate Katie, he was just being a little boy and Katie needed to be changed.

The whole day she had had to make sure Katie was all right which made being part of Ben's birthday a little difficult to do. She hadn't been able to play with them or be there when they had sing the birthday song.

This was the second time they had celebrated his birthday, the first one had been almost as soon as they had come live here. They all now considered Ben to be 3 years old, only a year and 2 months since they met. Ben was very skinny for his age, but she could attest that it was not from lack of food. That boy ate as if the food could disappear if he didn't eat it as soon as it was in front of him.

At least she had been able to tell him and the boys a bedtime story. It wasn't really a bedtime story but a very short summary of they had all come to live here. It had taken her a lot to convince William and Joshua to move with her, leaving their jobs and lives behind, William more so than Joshua. William had argued that being a policemen had been his dream since he had been very young and that he had no intention of leaving his grandmother behind. It had taken her a couple of days to make him say yes and she suspected that it had been Joshua the one to convince her. That had made her a little disappointed figuring that if William had no intention of following her, therefore having no problem with her going away, maybe he was never going to ask her out. Time living together just reassured her of the fact that William will never see her as a woman whom he could at least date.

The three of them had grown very close, the other two ladies who were here before them changed two times since they had come here. Emma explained that they were girls doing their internship mostly, which meant they didn't stay longer than a couple of months. Lidya had the intention of staying there as long as Emma welcomed her, and she hoped Joshua and William felt the same way.

She had noticed at first them feeling awkward and not really knowing what to do, but quickly enough they had started feeling useful and noticing how they were making a change on the little children's lives, Joshua more than William.

She loved seeing Joshua getting dirty in the mud on the summer playing with everyone or teaching them new games. William was more the strict uncle that actually let you get away with stuff most of the time. He was incapable of falling through on his threats when the kids misbehave.

They all had a day off a month, she used hers to go and walk in the city, she knew Joshua used his to go out and eat in a restaurant he loved. Lidya strongly suspected he liked the waitress there, for some reason Lidya didn't like her. William used his day off to go back to London and visit his grandmother. She felt guilty about taking William away and had tried to convince the woman to move with them, but she had not wanted to even hear about it. She had said that she could never leave Privet Drive, it had been her home most of her life, it had been were she had raised her son and grandson. Lidya had stopped trying after a couple of weeks and hadn't gone back to visit; she actually hadn't gone back to London at all since then, she didn't miss it.

She just hoped Katie was an easy baby and wouldn't take all of her time for the next months. It wasn't a very nice thing to think, but she hadn't felt a strong attachment to the baby for some reason.

Since she had had to go back to Katie 5 times in the day and most of the night, it didn't feel her wish would come true.

* * *

-I can't see why I should be amused by the fact that she can walk. All of us can walk. Call me when she can fly- Ben said a little angrily, which made Paulinne and Josh laugh hard.

-At least she is no longer ugly- Josh said once he had catch his breath back.

Katie was a little on the plump side which made her legs and arms look small and a little funny looking, She had straight black hair that just went everywhere since it wasn't long enough to be put on a ponytail or something.

-Well she is walking toward us- Paulinne pointed out and started calling out to her –Come on Katie, fly to us, you can do it- Josh and her started laughing again.

-She is still ugly, I will grant you the fact that she isn't scary anymore- Ben said.

-Scary? Where you actually scared of a baby?- Josh asked skeptically.

-They had her in a cage!- Ben explain as if it were obvious –There had to be a reason for that!-

-Please stop! I can't breath, it hurts- Paulinne was leaning on Josh to not fall over.

-You need to pay more attention in class- Josh tried to say seriously –They are called cribs, they are used by babies to sleep-

-There is a reason why the look like cages- Ben crossed his arms and scoffed.

Without them noticing Lidya came up to them.

-I want to hear the joke, a little laugh will make my day- she put her arms around Paulinne and watched how Katie tried to walk over but kept failing miserably while Joshua was following making sure she wasn't hurt.

-We are a little disappointed in our friend here- Josh said sadly putting his arm around Ben –He thinks a baby is going to come and kill him at night-

-No, I don't!- He shoved Josh lightly away.

-No shoving Ben!- Lidya said sternly.

-I am sorry Mrs. Aiken- Ben really did look apologetic.

Lidya decided it was best to walk away from the 4 year olds and help Joshua with the little year old baby.

-It's bad enough I had to share my last birthday with her, but I hate sharing Mrs. Aiken- Ben sadly sat down on the floor.

-Yes, because you don't share her with any of us- Paulinne said sarcastically.

-It is not the same- Ben was being difficult and irrational.

-How is it not the same- Josh was literally confused and just couldn't understand the animosity that Ben felt towards a baby that previous to today hadn't even been able to walk and still had never said a word.

-I don't mind sharing her with you-

-That is just ridiculous. You are being stupid- Paulinne was now getting frustrated.

-I am not stupid- Ben defended himself.

-I didn't say you were, I said you were acting stupid. But now I do think you are stupid- Paulinne stuck her tongue out.

Ben got angry and shoved her a little roughly making her fall on her behind. Paulinne was in shock of what her friend had just done and couldn't help but started crying. Her butt did hurt a little from the fall, but it hurt more the fact that it had been Ben who had done it. It was pretty common for the children to be mean to each other, but Ben, Josh and Paulinne had always been friends.

William ran towards them as soon as he heard Paulinne crying and on the ground. He helped her up and tried to console her with a hug.

-It's ok, don't cry. Where does it hurt- William asked Paulinne.

-He shoved me!- Paulinne pointed at Ben with a hurt stare and an angry voice.

-Ben…- William waited for the boy to answer, he could see the conflicted emotions in the boy's eyes and the decision he made was one that William couldn't be proud of.

Ben crossed his arms and stared angrily at Paulinne. –She started it-

-I did not!- Paulinne accentuated an equally angry stare.

-Did to-

-Did not-

-Did to-

-Did not-

-Did to-

-Did not-

-It doesn't matter who started it, boys don't shove girls and more importantly people don't shove friends- William said in a stern voice, he didn't like to discipline the children but sometimes it was part of the job. –Ben, go to the time out room-

William could see the surprise in Ben's face at being punished. He had told Lidya several times now that even though he didn't out right say it, Ben knew everyone had a soft spot for him which helped him get away with things other children didn't. Even Josh and Paulinne were shocked at witnessing Ben being punished.

-But I've never been to the time out room-

-There is always a first time for everything- William responded.

-This isn't fair!- Ben whined loudly, it grabbed the attention of the people nearby.

-I gave you and order Ben- William was starting to feel irritated with the young boy. He didn't like to repeat himself and he felt too uncomfortable being the disciplinary adult.

-What is going on?- Lidya walked towards them with Katie on her arms and Joshua on her side. Katie looked curiously at everyone involved while she sucked on her thumb. Ben couldn't help but make a face at the sight.

-I gave Ben an order, I am waiting for him to follow it-

Lidya looked over at Ben just in time to see him stuck out her tongue to William, it certainly shocked her. Ben had been having a rebel side ever since Katie came to their lives, she had noticed. But lately it was becoming a problem.

-Ben!- Lidya exclaimed in shock and a little anger.

Not thinking about the fact that everyone could see him sticking out his tongue Ben felt very bad about it.

-I think you should go to the time out room- Lidya stated. This time there were more surprised faces involved since they now had a small audience. The children started whispering between them.

Ben wouldn't move and was just staring at Lidya with his mouth open in shock.

-Now young boy!- Lidya ordered. She used that voice a lot with the children when she was disappointed at something they've done, but it had never been used towards Ben.

Ben now feeling very bad about everything turned around and started walking towards the time out room, not before whispering under his breath about how this was Katie's fault. Lidya, William and Joshua heard him but decided not to let him know, they just didn't understand why this would be Katie's fault.

WILLIAM

Once Ben was out of their sight, he gave a look to Lidya and Joshua that hopefully they understood as a way of stating they need to talk in private.

Once they were in the nursing room, Joshua closed the door behind him and Lidya put Katie down. As soon as the one year old was on the floor the whole process of failing to walk started again.

-I warned you about Ben, how he was beginning to think he was above the rules- William started the discussion.

-What happened? Why was he so mad?- Lidya asked curiously.

-I don't know why he was mad- William started explaining –I do know he shoved Paulinne hard enough for her to fall-

Both Joshua and Lidya were shocked to hear that.

-I told him to go to the time out room but he wouldn't listen to me- William finished explaining –That is when you walked into the scene-

Lidya was surprised and disappointed at what she had heard, Joshua looked as if he had known.

-I can't believe he would do that to his friend- Lidya said in a harsh whisper.

-William is right, it is our fault for not treating him like everyone else. If we want Ben to grow up with manners and educated, it is our job to guide him. That means giving him rules and making him follow them- Joshua stated calmly.

-But he is such a sweet boy- Lidya tried to reason.

-He won't be a sweet boy soon enough if we don't make sure he stays that way- Joshua put his hand over hers.

William had started noticing this types of small tokens of affection between his best friend and his best friend's long time crush. They had followed her to another town, it was more than a crush! He had made Joshua promise him that he would marry the blonde girl someday soon, otherwise he would stay in London. Joshua had promised and it looked like he was finally doing something to keep that promise.

-So we all agree- William broke the silence – No more giving Ben special treatment- The other two nodded in agreement.

William decided to give them time alone and walked out of the room.

-Mr. Abel I have a favor to ask- Emma stop him on his way to his room, and he waited for her to continue –The police has a child with them, and needs someone to help them with him-

-They always bring them to us- William stated confused.

-This is a special case- Emma started explaining – You are not to bring him here, he has a family, they need someone to be with him while he waits for them. Apparently they are coming from London-

The policemen in Berkshire often thought they were a babysitting company, they kept bringing them any children for periods of only hours sometimes days while they were otherwise occupied with their job. He was sure this was one of this time. He always followed orders though, so he nodded and went to grab his coat.

The police station was only a couple of blocks away and it wasn't a cold day, William decided to walk there.

Once he got inside he was quickly guided to a small bare room where a boy was drawing on a piece of paper. The boy couldn't be more than 5 years old. He wasn't plump, the boy was fat, the parents should at least get a fine for that.

-Hello there- He smiled and greeted the boy to make his presence know.

They boy just looked him up and down and went back to what he was doing.

-My name is William, what is yours?- He asked and pulled a chair closed to the young child.

-Dudley- the boy answered without taking his eyes off what he was doing.

-What are you drawing Dudley?- William asked trying to peek into the picture.

-None of your business- Dudley tried to cover the piece of paper with his fat hands.

Now this was a perfect example of a child that didn't have manners and was surely spoiled. This was the reason why they had to stop treating Ben the way they had been treating him up to now. They didn't want a Dudley double under their care.

-Where are your mom and dad Dudley?- William asked starting to not wanting to be there at all.

-Home- the boy answered with his arms crossed.

-Where is home?-

-4 Privet Drive-

-That is in London isn't it?-

-Wow you are smart!-

William definitely didn't like this boy. -You are a long way from home-

-It was a long drive here- Dudley answered.

-Who drove you here?-

-The bus-

-How did you get into a bus by yourself?-

-I just followed a grown up into one-

-Why did you leave home-

-Why not?-

Now William was concerned, maybe the boy was in an abusive home and just wanted to get out. He felt sympathy for the boy and tried to walk nicely to him.

-Where you trying to get away from something?-

-Yes, my parents-

Now they were getting somewhere.

-Why were you trying to get away from your parents?-

-They wouldn't give me a chocolate! They said they didn't have more in the house and that they had to go buy them, I didn't want to wait for a chocolate so I went to look for my own chocolate- Dudley stated as a matter of fact and William was back to hating the child.

Dudley feeling like William was done with his questions went back to his drawing and William opted for waiting quietly for the parents to get there.

-Was everything all right?- Emma asked him a couple of hours after when he had finally been able to go back.

-Yes, they just wanted a nanny while the child's parents arrived- William answered.

-Is something on your mind?- Emma asked sensing something was troubling the young man.

-The parents felt very familiar, but I couldn't place them. They live near my grandmother so maybe I've been seen them there- William shrugged. Emma just smiled and went back to her office.

William just felt as if he should know who those people where, even the address felt strangely familiar, 4 Privet drive.

LIDYA

-I don't know if I am capable to treat Ben as everyone else, he is just too special to me, I can't explain it- Lidya confided in Joshua once they were left alone with Katie, who was still failing at walking.

-I know he is, but that should only drive you more to do so- Joshua tried reasoning with her.

She knew he was right. A couple of months ago she had been asked by Emma to run an errand, it had been one of Joshua's day off and he was sitting in the same coffee shop he visited on this kind of days. A very pretty and short brunette was obviously flirting with him. Something had come over her and she had completely forgotten what she was supposed to be doing. She walked towards the coffee shop and planted a kiss on Joshua, then looking at the brunette as if stating that he was hers. Joshua hadn't said a word about it but hey had started dating ever since. They tried to keep it private but she was sure William had already figured it out. When she walked back to the orphanage with Joshua, Emma had asked for the milk Lidya was supposed to be bringing back. Needless to say, Lidya had gone out again to get the milk.

-I want to adopt him- Lidya blurted without looking at his eyes. She felt his soft hand guiding her face towards his.

-We should get married- he said lovingly after kissing her.

It was too soon, she knew it was too soon, yet it felt like the perfect time.

Katie fell on the floor once more, but this time she started crying loudly.

BEN

Ben arrived in the time out room and slammed the door behind him. In a way he was hopping Lidya had been following him and walked inside mad about him doing that, but it didn't happen. She hadn't followed.

The time out room was a small bear room, no furniture and nothing on the walls. It at least had a small window where you could see the yard where everyone was at the time. This time he didn't like that he could see through a window, it just made him angrier of the fact that he was there. In a way he knew it was his fault that he was there, but it still felt as if it was Katie's and William's fault. He was very sorry about how he treated Paulinne, he made a mental note to apologize to her after he got out.

The couple of lights of fire appeared right in front of him. That didn't surprise him anymore; they were always there whenever he was by himself.

-Go away- He tried to will them away.

The balls of light turned to balls of fire.

-I said go away!- He said with more force on his voice.

The balls of fire disappeared and left him alone once more.


	3. Chapter 3

AN ANGEL IS MY HERO

A JOURNEY STARTS WITH ONE STEP - CHAPTER 3

WILLIAM

-It is time for me to go back to London- William said with a smile after congratulating the new bride and groom.

-You can't- Lidya was trying to get him to stay.

-It took my mate here longer than I thought to get you here- William laughed, Joshua's face lighted up of embarrassment, Lidya tried hard not to laugh and come out with a little giggle. – I need to go back to my grandmother, that is where I belong-

It had been a beautiful very intimate wedding, no more than 10 guests. They had gotten married a year after Joshua had proposed.

For the last year the orphanage hadn't had more than 15 kids at the time, it meant William could go back to his life in London without feeling guilty about it. Joshua now had Lidya.

Of the children that had been there when Lidya, William and Joshua came here, only Ben, Paulinne, Josh, Kurt and Holly. The other had either turned 17 and moved out or had been adopted. He knew every single one of them would make a life for themselves.

William felt fulfilled and ready to close this chapter of his life.

* * *

-Can I play?- A very cute, dark haired 6 year old asked the three children who at the moment were talking in hush voices.

-We are not playing- Ben answered his back to the younger child.

-Can I not play with you?- She sat next to him and flashed a huge smile. With time Ben had to admit the girl had stopped being weird looking and now looked like a normal girl. She wasn't scary nor she smell badly anymore. Unless it was one of those days where she for some reason decided not to take a bath.

-We are planning an adventure- Josh said without thinking which earned a glare from both Paulinne and Ben.

-I want to go on an adventure too- Katie exclaimed excitedly.

-You can't- Ben said calmly.

-If you don't take me I will tell Emma-

-Mrs. Lovegood- Paulinne corrected the young girl, but Katie only shrugged.

-You wouldn't- Ben dared the girl.

-I would- Katie gave him what Ben could only describe as an evil smile.

-We can take her- Paulinne decided.

-Are you crazy?- Ben asked in a high pitch voice.

-I am very sane most of the time thank you very much- Paulinne scoffed –It is not like we are actually doing it anyway-

-Yes we are- Ben insisted.

-Be reasonable Ben. How are we supposed to go to London and find this address. We've never been outside these walls. We wouldn't know how to do anything by ourselves, besides we don't have any mommy- Paulinne said in a very calmed tone of voice.

-Money- Joshua corrected –Though it is true we don't have a mommy either- He smiled at his clever words, it just earned him a slap to the back of his head by Paulinne.

-We have to find a way- Ben was being stubborn. In class they had started learning about society as a whole. He had started to learn that every child was supposed to have a mom and a dad; that was what a family should look like. Naturally he was curious about knowing who his mom and dad were. He didn't understand nor cared about the fact that he didn't live with them. He liked his life and he couldn't actually miss something he never had. Yet, he still wanted to know who they were and if they looked like him. Who better to tell him than the people that had found him. He didn't know who they were, he only had their address from Lidya's story but he was sure they were the nicest people in the world if they had made sure he had ended up right were he was today.

-Let's say we do it. How are we getting out of here without anyone noticing?- Paulinne asked.

-At night when is dark- Ben answered with a smug face.

-But we are asleep at night- Katie stated as if it was obvious Ben's just had had a terrible idea.

-Which is why you can't go- Ben told the younger girl.

-I am going if you are going- Katie dared him.

-Whatever- the boy said not really caring about Katie coming or not. He didn't dislike the younger girl any more, he had learned to live with her since apparently the girl had developed a special liking to him. She was never far and she made sure that he always knew about anything she accomplished, trying to make him feel proud of her or something weird like that. Lidya kept telling him that Katie saw him as an older brother; she admired him and wanted to be just like him. Ben didn't like the idea of there being a girl version of him, boys were much better, but at least she was smart if she thought Ben was that awesome.

-Ok, we go out at night when it is dark, do we just walk out the front door?- Paulinne asked him skeptically.

-Why not? Is not like there is anyone there anyway- Josh answered.

-Fine! We walk out the front door at night. How do we get to London?- Paulinne kept asking.

-We get one of those big things with wheels- Ben didn't remember what they were called.

-Cars- Josh helped him out.

-Yes that!-

-A red one!- Katie said happily.

-No, a black one!- Josh stated.

-The color doesn't realy matter- Paulinne started saying

-Yes, it does!- both Josh and Katie interrupted at the same time, it was a little funny to see a 9 year old and a 6 years old have the same level of childish behavior.

-Fine! It will be half black and half red. Happy?- She was starting to feel irritated at her them, Ben could tell –How are we supposed to get a car and then use it to get to London? We don't even know where London is. What if its too far?-

-We can get one of those cars that already have an adult there that takes you places- Ben said as if it was the obvious thing to do.

-A cab- Josh stated.

-Why do you know so much?- Katie asked Josh in an awestruck manner.

-I pay attention in class- Josh answered.

-I will never know as much as you then- Katie said resigned.

-You could- Josh said in a low voice.

-Not really- Katie answered smiling.

-Ok, so we go out the front door at night and get a taxi to London With what money?- Paulinne emphasized the word "money" for Josh's sake, that made Ben laugh a little and Josh just shrugged.

-Emma, Lidya or Joshua must have money- Katie stated.

-We can't just take money from Mrs lovegood nor Mrs or Mr Alec- Paulinne mocked.

-Why not?- Katie asked confused.

-That is called stealing- Josh told the young girl.

-Why is it important for me to know what that is called?- Katie asked.

-Stealing is bad- Paulinne said.

-Why?- Katie asked.

-Because you are taking something that it is not yours- Paulinne tried explaining.

-Mrs. Lovegood is always telling us to share everything because everything is everyone's- Ben intercepted.

-That is true. She always says that- Josh gave him the reason.

-That only applies to us- Paulinne said.

-Why?- Katie asked.

-I don't know- Paulinne answered unsure.

-Then the money is ours too and we can take it- Katie felt as if she had won a fight.

-Ok. So we go out the front door in the night, find a cab to go to London with either Mrs Lovegood's or Mrs or Mr Alec's money- Paulinne was starting to feel defeated

-Our money remember?- Katie interrupted, and just receiben a stare for the older girl.

-How are we supposed to find that address- Paulinne asked.

-Easy- Josh exclaimed –Cabs are supposed to take exactly where you want, the cab will take us to the address-

-I guess we just need to decide when we are going then- Paulinne said sarcastically.

-Tonight- Ben said smiling, Katie and Josh smiled as well. Paulinne knew she had lost and was going to London with them. Ben knew Pauline would have never miss this adventure, she loved this kind of things, she just always had to make it difficult first, it made her feel better for some reason.

That night they had decided to meet at the entrance once everyone was asleep. Katie fortunately hadn't been able to keep herself awake which made Ben feel better; he didn't really want to take her with them in case something happened.

-Ready?- Ben asked his friends, not waiting for them to answer, he opened the door and walked outside. There were rules in the house that stated no one could leave and Ben knew no one actually expected any of them to ever leave; that must be why this door was never locked.

To Paulinne's nightmare since she was hoping for something to make them go back a cab was just in front of the front door, as if waiting for them. It looked just like the pictures in their textbooks.

-Awesome!- Josh ran towards it with Ben on tow, Paulinne dragged her feet behind them.

-Hi- Ben greeted the man in the wheel.

-Are you lost?- The man asked the children.

-No, we need you to take us to London- Josh told him.

-Do you have money?- The man asked skeptically.

-Yes, we do- Josh answered and Paulinne took out the paper money she had taken from Mrs. Lovegood's office earlier that day. They didn't actually know how much they had, nor if it was enough, they just hope it was.

-Looks ok. Pop in- The man opened the door for them from inside.

Once they were inside the man asked them where exactly in London where they going. Ben told him the address happily.

The whole ride they talked between them about what everyone thought London would be like. They couldn't believe everything they where seeing trough the window of the car. Things they had only seen on pictures before that day. The houses were huge, there were animals everywhere, some of them they had never seen before. There were other cars. Ben saw 2 red ones and made a mental note of telling Katie about it the next day.

The cab made noises and had music inside. They all loved it. It was the best night of their lives. They soon forgot about how tired they were supposed to be.

It took them a little over an hour to get to their destination.

-Here we are- The man said when he stopped the car – 4 Privet Drive. London-

After they had pay the man, and even had a lot of the paper money left they got out of the cab and stood in front of the house they had only heard about in stories. There was a light on the porch, but every light inside the house seemed to be turned off.

The three kids walked towards the entrance and knocked on the door a little scared but mostly excited.

They heard footsteps from inside and a saw a light being turned on.

-Did you forget your keys Vernon?- The woman asked when she opened the door.

PETUNIA

She was now used to her husband being late. Her husband was very hard working but she sometimes wished he was more often at the house.

It was almost midnight and she was very tired, she wished her husband will be here already so she could go to sleep. Today had been a very tiring day. Dudley's Headmistresses had done a very unjust thing to her Dudley, she had accused her son to have beaten a younger boy. That was just ridiculous, her Dudley would never do something like that, but the Headmistress wouldn't hear reason and suspended her son for the rest of the week. To Petunia that just meant more time spent with her son.

She was sitting in the dark living room, to tired to even think about turning on the light, too tired to even clean.

Fortunately a knock was heard. Vernon must have forgotten his keys or was too tired to look for them. She could certainly understand it.

She got up, walked towards the entrance and opened the door.

-Did you forget your keys Vernon?- She asked with a loving smile that she quickly lost when she saw who was actually there. There were three kids, Dudley's age. It was too late for a play date.

There were two boys, both with long hair, what were their parents thinking? One had dark black hair and the other dark brown hair. The girl was taller than the boys though not by much and had long brown hair tied in a high ponytail.

-Good Evening- The boy with the brown hair greeted with a smile.

-Isn't it late for a visit?- Petunia asked them sternly –Dudley is sleeping, and you should be too. Where are your parents?- She half expected them to be near.

-We don't have parents- The girl said with a smile. That was just too creepy to Petunia.

-All children have parents- Petunia stated.

-We don't- The girl stated back.

-Hello, my name is Ben- the boy with the dark black hair introduced himself –This are my friends Paulinne and Josh-

-Good evening Ben, Paulinne and Josh. It is late for you to be knocking on my door don't you think?- She asked as nicely as she could master.

-I am sorry for the time, we were hoping we could ask you some questions- Ben sounded very hopeful indeed.

-Questions? Me?- Petunia asked confused.

-I was found here when I was a baby, I was hoping you could help me- The black haired boy was still smilling. That is when Petunia saw it. The eyes. She knew those eyes. She had seen them everyday when she was a child. Those were her sister's eyes.

-Harry- she said in a very harsh whisper -I don't know what you are talking about and I want you to leave- Petunia said icely. She proceeded to close the door and leave the children outside.

She couldn't believe he was back and with friends, monsters like him obviously.

She hadn't thought about the monster for years, she was sure she had gotten rid of him for sure. Why was he on her doorstep again?

She tried to breath in and out slowly to calm herself down and decided to just forget the incident.

She heard the door open behind her.

-Petunia, we have guests- Her husband walked in with the three monsters.

Not again! Petunia thought angrily.

VERNON

Vernon was coming home later every day, trying to tire her wife out and maybe finally coming home to a sleeping wife. It was now everyday instead of a couple of days a week, he went to a town nearby to see Charlie. She wasn't as young as she used to be, but she was still perfectly adequate for what he was looking for. They had had a scare almost 7 years ago when she had found out she was pregnant. Vernon had quickly demanded she got an abortion and gave her money for it. The depression of getting rid of the baby had made her eat a lot and she had gotten fat. Vernon had almost decided to leave her and look for someone else then, but after a year she had gotten back to the body he was used to.

Maybe not completely, but close enough.

That had been a close one, how would he explain a child to Petunia? More importantly, how would he explain a child to their neighbors and friends? He was glad they had gotten rid of it before it became a problem.

Before he got out of his car he noticed three little children standing on his porch and could overhear their conversation.

-What was that about- One of the boys asked.

-That was weird. She is a weird lady- The girl answered.

-May I help you- Vernon asked concerned, maybe the kids where lost. It was very late for three young children to be out by themselves and he couldn't see anyone that could be their parents nearby.

-Good evening sir, do you live here?- One of the boys asked.

-Yes, I do. Are you Dudley's friends?- Vernon asked.

-No, sir. We came to ask you some questions- the same boy said.

-Questions?- Vernon asked confused – Where are your parents?-

-We don't have parents- The girl said with a smile.

Vernon felt bad for the children, maybe he should call de cops to help them out.

-I was found here when I was a baby, I was hoping you could help me- The black haired boy said shyly.

-You are that baby? Come in!- Vernon guided them inside.

-Petunia, we have guests- Vernon stated when he saw her standing on the other side of the door –This is the baby from 5 years ago-

-7- the boy corrected.

-Yes, 7- Vernon smiled –Do you want a glass of milk or water?-

-Milk would be nice- the girl answered for them.

-Petunia bring the kids some milk- Vernon ordered.

With a murderous stare Petunia disappeared to the kitchen.

-She is a weird lady- the girl stated and sat on the couch, the boys followed suit.

-How did you find us?- Vernon asked curiously.

-We've been told the story of how I was found since we were babies- The boy answered.

-Are you siblings?- Vernon asked.

-In a way we are. We all live in Berkshire orphanage- the girl answered.

He was very familiar with Berkshire, it had been his home for the evenings for more than 5 years.

-I am sorry to hear that- Vernon said sadly.

-Why?- the other boy asked.

-I am sorry you don't have a family- Vernon tried to explain himself.

-We don't mind- the first boy answered happily –My name is Ben, this are my friends Josh and Paulinne-

-Nice to meet you, my name is Vernon- Petunia walked in with three glasses of milk –And this is my wife Petunia- His wife just glared and sat down beside him stiffly.

-You are a very weird lady- Paulinne stated, Vernon tried to cover a laugh with a cough.

-I was hoping you could tell me something about the night you found me- Ben said hopefully.

-There is not much to tell I am afraid. I found you outside the doorstep, just where I found you tonight actually, and in a very cold night just like this one. There was no note or any thing, you were just laying in the floor- Vernon started saying feeling sorry for him. – We called the cops and they took you. That is all we know-

Vernon could see the three children were disappointed to hear Vernon's words.

-Thank you for your time- Paulinne smiled weakly and started to get up – I think we should go-

-To Berkshire?- Vernon asked incredulously.

-They say they need to go- Petunia stated icely.

-It is too late for three children to go by themselves. We need to call the cops- Vernon stood up and went to get the phone.

-We are going to get in so much trouble- Pauline whined.

-To the time out room for the rest rest of our lives- Josh whined.

-Hello, this is Vernon Dursley in 4 Privet Drive. There are three children in my house, I need you to send someone to pick them up- Vernon told the operator on the phone.

-Someone should be here in a couple of minutes- Vernon told everyone in the room after he had hang up.

Because of Petunia's stare everyone remained quiet while they waited. Vernon was starting to see what Paulinne saw, his wife was certainly a weird lady.

After a couple of minutes, that felt like forever to Vernon a knock was heard. He walked towards the door and let the cops come in. One of them felt familiar but couldn't place him. -Please come in-

-Hello Mr Abel- Paulinne greeted one of the cops. The three children looked as if they had been caught doing a mischief.

WILLIAM

This were three people he would never have thought he would see that night. It shocked him to see three children he hadn't seen in 4 years. They looked just the same, only much taller, especially Paulinne.

-Paulinne, Ben, Josh. What are you doing in London? Here?- William asked them, starting to feel a little angry at the children.

-We wanted to visit Mr and Mrs Dursley- Ben answered shyly.

He looked towards the owners of the house, they nodded confirming they were Mr and Mrs Dursley.

-How do you know Mr and Mrs Dursley?- William asked them.

-We don't- Josh answered quickly.

-Explain yourselves- William ordered.

-We just wanted to see the house of the stories- Ben explained with a little more courage.

-What stories?- William asked confused.

-The one that Mrs Alec always tell us- Ben answered confidently.

William was now starting to understand. Ben had wanted to know where he came from; William had felt this place eerily familiar, now he knew why.

-You are staying with me tonight, I will take you back tomorrow- William said resigned, happy that his shift was over and he could take the boys straight home. The boys thanked Mr. Dursley and after a stern look from William, Mrs Dursley as well.

It was Ben's worst nightmare William knew, that boy really hated getting a lecture or being punished, this time he was going to get both. He waited until he had closed the door to her house to start going at the children about how dangerous it is for three 9 year olds to be in the streets by themselves, specially if they didn't even know the city. When he had found out they had stolen from Emma, William could barely contain himself from shouting in complete anger and sent them to bed.

Knowing everyone would be worried when they found out they were missing three children, he opted for calling even though it was extremely late.

-Hello Mrs Lovegood, I am sorry to wake you-

-William dear, is everything all right?- Emma's voice sounded worried.

-I have three children with me that belong to you. I was called to pick them up here in London-

-Three children?- Emma know sounded between scared and angry.

-Ben, Paulinne and Josh-

-What?- Emma exclaimed loudly and angrily. She had assured William that she would send Joshua to pick them up the next day.

Drained from the night William went straight to bed.

-Hello dear, I woke up to find these charming little children in my house- His grandmother had obviously met their guests and was know giving them breakfast. William was still very tired, he had gone to bed late the night before.

-Mr Alec is going to pick you up today- William informed the kids.

-Oh dear! Joshua is coming over? I haven't seen that boy in ages. I am still so sorry I couldn't go to his wedding- His grandmother said to no one in particular – I better make a large meal for everyone-

-They are not staying- William stated.

-Of course they are! I am not letting them go without food in their tummies-

-It is just an hour drive- William defended himself.

-You never know with traffic- His grandmother was not going to give it up so he just conceded.

-What would you like?- She asked the children.

-Cake- -Pizza- -Chocolate- Ben, Josh and Paulinne said at the same time.

-Those are not proper food- She said sternly, the kids looked as if they had just gotten told off – I am going to make you a delicious meal- and she went back to the kitchen.

-We haven't even finish breakfast yet- Ben told his friends in a whisper but William overheard.

-You are going to say thank you to my grandmother before you leave with Mr Alec- He told them –Mrs. Lovegood is very concerned and angry about what you did-

-We are sorry- Paulinne said with tears on her eyes.

-Not really- Ben whispered to himself.

-Ben!- William said sternly.

Ben now at least looked apologetic, though William wasn't sure if it was for being told off or for what he had done.

A couple of hours later, in which William had given them chores around the house as a pre-punishment, Joshua finally arrived.

-I knew you grandmother would have a meal waiting- Joshua smiled –I miss her cooking-

-My boy- his grandmother greeted his best friend with a long hug –I am so sorry about missing your wedding. I would really love to meet that beautiful wife of yours-

-I will have to bring her someday- Joshua replied happily.

-That day better be soon-

-Of course madame-

-You must be starving. Come on in, I will serve the food in a minute. Everyone sit-

The three children sat slowly at the table scared of what Joshua's lecture would be like. Up 'til then he hadn't said anything to them.

William knew his friend, he would wait until he had them for an hour in a car with no way out.

His grandmother had made a wonderful meal, roast beef and vegetables. They all ate happily and the children soon forgot about how they were supposed to feel guilty at the moment.

-We are just waiting for the government's approval- Joshua told his friend in confidence once they found a place to be alone.

-It has been a very long process, a little over 3 years- William told him.

-It has. The fact that there is no record of his birth anywhere or anything about him really makes everything difficult and slow- Joshua said.

-How do you feel about it?- William asked his friend

-Nervous, excited, anxious, scared… every thing really. I hope that this little adventure doesn't hinge the process- Joshua said.

-It won't. It is not on any record. I brought them straight to my house-

-Thank you- Joshua hugged his friend.

LIDYA

-Emma have you seen Joshua?- Lidya ran into Emma's office, she had tears in her eyes. She had never felt as happy as she felt at that moment and she needed to tell Joshua. He wasn't in bed when she woke up that morning, which wasn't rare. He was usually already eating breakfast by the time she woke up. This time he wasn't. She couldn't find him anywhere.

-I sent him to do some errands, it will probably take him all morning- Emma answered a little annoyed at being so rudely interrupted. Emma could tell but she just didn't care.

-They said yes- Lidya said happily, tears started running down her face.

Emma forgot about the rudeness of the younger girl and stood up quickly to hug her.

-Congratulations! I am so happy for you- Emma had helped her any way she could for years and for that Lidya was very grateful. She was happy to be able to share this with her friend.

-I can't believe I have to wait for Joshua to tell Ben. I don't know if I will be able to hold it in- Lidya started ranting.

-About that…- Emma started explaining –Ben is not here-

-What do you mean he is not here?- Lidya felt very confused, where else could her new son be?

-William called last night- Emma started to say.

-Is everything all right?- Lidya was beginning to think the worst, her voice was a little shaky.

-Ben, Paulinne and Josh are with him-

-What to do you mean Ben, Paulinne and Josh are with him-

-The children apparently wanted to go sightseeing in London-

-What?-

-They went to 4 Privet Drive-

-The story…- Lidya understood what had happened –They went to where the story starts-

-That is what I am guessing and what William thinks as well. It is now your job to talk to Ben about this-

-Great! I get to start my new life by being a mean mom- Lidya said sarcastically but loving how describing herself as a mom felt like.

Time could not go any faster. Classes felt like they took forever even for her, she wanted Joshua and Ben to be here already. She played with her hair, bit her nails walk up and down the stairs, anything she would think of to calm her nerves. Nothing helped.

Finally around 6pm she saw a car pull over in front of the building. She ran towards the entrance door and opened it width, running towards her husband. She hugged him and cried when he reached him, not able to contain her excitement.

-Everything is all right. Ben and the kids are perfectly fine- Joshua had misinterpreted her actions. He was trying to reassure her.

Without letting go she whispered in his ear – We are approved-

Joshua pushed her away from him tenderly and looked into her eyes lovingly. –They did?-

Lidya was just able to nod, words wouldn't come out of her mouth. After catching her breath she continued –Someone is coming tomorrow so we can sign the papers and make it official-

Joshua's smile was as wide as hers had been in the morning.

She quickly got to her knees and hugged Ben as tight as she could, until Ben stated that he couldn't breathe.

-I am sorry. There is something we need to tell you- Lidya got back up and took Ben's hand walking into the large building.

Lidya made Ben sit down in a chair and sat down in another one just in front of him. She didn't even notice Joshua grabbing a chair and sitting beside her.

She was very nervous, she couldn't stop fidgeting and her hands were really sweaty. Joshua as always knew exactly how to calm her down, he just grabbed her hands and smiled at her. She instantly felt calmer, she smiled back and turned towards Ben.

-Ever since we got married we made a wish to the stars, and to the government as well, just in case the stars didn't hear- She started explaining, the boy's face yelled confusion –We asked for approval to adopt you. And today our wish came true. We were approved-

Ben still looked confused.

-You will officially be our son from tomorrow on- Joshua said.

-What does that mean?- Ben asked.

-It means we will be your family, your mom and dad- Lidya smiled at him.

-We are already a family. I still don't get the difference- Ben stated.

-Well for example you would be able to go out with us to the park, to the movies or on family trips, to London for example- Lidya said.

-Can Paulinne and Josh come too- Ben looked excited.

-No, they have to follow Emma's rules, you have to follow ours- Joshua said.

-Can't you adopt them too?- Ben asked.

-No, we can't- Joshua said sadly.

-Why not?- Ben demanded an answer.

Joshua and Lidya had no way of answering that question so they opted for ignoring it and hopping Ben would forget it.

-It also means you can go to school- Lidya changed the subject.

-How would I go to class here and go to school? When would I play?- Ben definitely didn't like the idea.

-You wouldn't go to class here anymore- Lidya explained.

-When would I see my friends?- Ben asked scared.

-You would come back here after school, you would see them there- Joshua intercepted.

-It is not the same!- Ben stated angrily.

-You will like it, I promise. You will make new friends- Lidya tried to calm the boy down.

-I don't want new friends. I already have friends- Ben said harshly.

-Please trust us- Lidya begged.

Ben crossed his arms and glared at them.

-Why can't you adopt Paulinne and Josh too? I don't want to be adopted without them-

Joshua feeling frustrated about the day, about the boy's attitude, and about the fact that his wife was now having her heart broken snapped. –You are grounded Ben, you will do as we say-

-What does grounded mean?- Ben asked.

-It means that until we say otherwise, you will do nothing that we don't tell you to do- Joshua stated.

-May I go to the bathroom? May I sleep? May I eat?- Ben was being very difficult.

-You may go to your room and not get out until we come find you tomorrow morning- Joshua ordered.

Ben just glared at them and walked out of the room.

-That was the best day of my life- Lidya said sarcastically.

-We got him just at the perfect age didn't we?- Joshua asked sarcastically.

Lidya just smiled and still felt happy about their family growing.


	4. Chapter 4

AN ANGEL IS MY HERO

AN UNWANTED GIFT - CHAPTER 4

BEN

Laying on his bed all by himself in the boys room, Ben was brooding. He didn't want to be adopted, it sounded lonely, he would have to give up his life and friends. What was the point? He didn't need a mom and dad, he already had a lot of moms and dads. Having just one of each meant having no more siblings. He loved having more than 10 siblings.

He didn't want to go to school, it meant being forgotten by everyone he knew. He was scared. He didn't like changes.

Through his teary eyes he saw that Lily and James had appeared in front of him, that is how he had named the balls of light a long time ago. They just felt like a Lily and James. He could just know which one was Lily and which one was James even though they were exactly the same size and had exactly the same level of brightness. He just knew.

"They say they want us to be a family, and the first thing they do is take me away from the family that I already have" Ben started pouring his heart out to his personal stars, wiping away a tear that was about to go down his cheek. The light made him feel as if he was being comforted, when he needed it to, he even felt a warmth was emanating from them. It felt like a light hug and a tender kiss "From tomorrow on my life will change completely and they never thought to ask me what I wanted. They decided for me"

The tears kept falling down and the balls of light started dancing in front of him. Soon Ben grew tired and fell asleep before any of the boys came back to the room.

Next morning Ben felt tired, as if he had barely slept and remembered about how the previous night and day had made an impact on his life.

Tears were threatening to come back. The sun still wasn't out but it wasn't dark enough for the stars to be visible either. His personal stars weren't there either.

He slowly got out of bed and decided to start his day. He walked towards his trunk which contained a couple of shirts and pants, a couple of underwear and his stuff for personal hygiene. He grabbed one of each and went to take a bath. The good thing about always being the first to rise was that he could have the bathroom all by himself, and he could actually take a soothing bath without anyone rushing him to get out for them to have their turn.

After he was clean, he put his dirty clothes away and walked outside the room hopping food was already available. It should be, he had taken a very long bath and the boys were already awake.

"You went without me!" a screeching high-toned voice came from behind him.

Saying Katie looked angry would be a big understatement. Seeing an angry 6 year old was more hilarious than scary. Is that how he looked like to Lidya and Joshua yesterday? Was he amusing them?

"You didn't show" Ben stated calmly.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Katie asked with tears on her eyes.

"I am not allowed into the girls room"

"Paulinne is"

"She tried, you wouldn't wake" In reality Ben had no idea if Paulinne tried to wake the younger girl up or not, but it felt like it was the smartest thing to say at the moment.

"You shouldn't have gone without me" Katie was being a little dramatic.

"It is not our fault you weren't there. If it makes you feel any better, we saw two red cars" Ben smiled at the girl.

"Why would that make me feel any better?" Katie was back to screeching.

"You said you wanted to see a red car"

"I wanted to see a red car, I didn't see it, you did!" she proceeded to make a dramatic exit by stomping all the way.

"Good Morning Ben" Ben was startled for the second time that morning.

"Why do people do that?" Ben said angrily.

Lidya looked a little sad but still had a smile on her face.

"Would you come with me, there is someone that wants to meet you?"

Curiosity got the better of him and follower her to Mrs. Lovegood's office. Lidya tried to take his hand but he wouldn't let her and purposely walked a few steps behind her.

As soon as they got there Lidya opened the door for him to walk in. There was a man inside, he looked to be as old as Mrs. Lovegood or even older. He had a brown small hat and brown clothes, brown must have been a big thing for the man, or maybe it was a uniform just like Lidya's and Joshua's.

"Good morning young man, my name is Louis" the old man introduced himself with a huge smile. Ben instantly liked him. He quickly walk inside and sat closed to the man.

"I am Ben"

"Very nice to meet you Ben. I hear today is a very exciting day for you"

"It is?"

Lidya and Joshua were standing in the entrance and Mrs. Lovegood was sitting on her chair. Ben hadn't noticed before, it all dawned on him and his smile disappeared.

"Oh. The adoption thing"

"The adoption thing?" Louis asked him curiously.

"They told me yesterday that I was getting a new family"

"And you are not happy about that?"

"I already have a family"

"You do?" The man started looking for something in the papers he had on his lap, which Ben hadn't noticed before.

"He means us" Mrs. Lovegood explained.

Comprehension started to dawn on Louis' face, Ben saw it.

"It should be my decision" Ben stated.

"Not if you are still a child. It is our decision" The man smiled. Suddenly Ben didn't like the older man that much anymore.

"I am going to give this papers to Mr. and Mrs. Alec" He grabbed the papers that where on his lap "They are already signed" He continued "This papers say that your new name is Benjamin Alec"

Ben didn't say a word. Louis stood up with some difficulty and walked towards Lidya and Joshua. Ben saw the whole transition. They took the papers and thanked the man.

"It was very nice to meet you Mr. Benjamin Alec, I wish you a very happy life with your new family" He then proceeded to walk out and left Ben alone with his new parents and Mrs. Lovegood.

"When do I start my new school?" Ben asked and broke the silence.

"We don't have to talk about that now. We actually wanted to take you out for breakfast to celebrate" Lidya had hope in her eyes.

"When?" Ben pushed.

"On January" Joshua answered.

"Will I still live here?"

"Yes" Joshua continued to be the one answering his questions.

"So school will be my first birthday present?"

"You will love it, I promise" Lidya tried to console him.

"I will go have breakfast with my friends now" Ben got up and walked out.

LIDYA

"You have to understand that Ben doesn't really know what a family is and he has never been unhappy so he doesn't feel the need to change anything in his life" Lidya could hear Emma's voice but she couldn't keep her eyes off the door which his new son had just walked out of "Love him, give him time. He will come around"

"I hope you are right" Lidya whispered.

"I am" Emma had heard her.

Joshua hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek just like he always did when she was feeling uneasy.

"What if we…" Lidya started saying in a small not convincing voice.

"No" Joshua stated quickly "We are not adopting Paulinne and Josh just because is asking us too. It is a big responsibility, one we've never thought about. We don't have the economic stability nor the disposition, lets be honest, to take them in as well. I know you want to see Ben happy love, but he is a kid, he will be angry at us for something different tomorrow"

"I know. I just wish I could give him everything he want it" Lidya sighed.

"Our job is not to give him want he wants, it's to give him what he needs" Joshua said seriously.

"Listen to your husband dear. You are now responsible of a preteen. You need to be able to guide him, not only love him" Emma intercepted.

"Ben has always been my weakness"

"We know" Joshua and Emma said at the same time smiling.

"I wanted to take him out to breakfast, I wanted to be there the first time he walked out the entrance door" Lidya said.

"It wouldn't be the first time though" Joshua said carefully.

"I planned it before the London thing" Lidya defended herself.

"How did you handle that?" Emma asked the newly parents.

"We didn't" Lidya answered.

"We will handle it today" Joshua stated.

"Do we have to? He is already mad enough" Lidya tried to talk on behalf of Ben.

"We have to" Joshua said firmly.

Lidya felt defeated. She didn't want to make Ben's life any harder than what it was. Deep inside she knew Ben was being unreasonable, but his words still hurt. She had imagined this day even before Joshua had been in the picture, first she had imagined doing this with William by her side, then she imagined it doing this by herself and the past years it became evident that if it did happen, it would be with Joshua's help. She imagined it being the best day of her life, in a way it still was, it just wasn't as perfect as she wish it were. She had imagined the three of them elated. Two out of three was not enough.

BEN

"So when are you supposed to be in the time out room? I have to be there after breakfast and Josh has to be there after lunch" It was the first thing Paulinne asked as soon as sat down at the table.

"I am not" he answered.

"You are not what?" Paulinne asked with her mouth full.

"I am no supposed to be at the time out room at any time" Ben answered icely.

"Did they give you another punishment? Is it worse?" Josh looked honestly concerned.

"I haven't been punished yet" Ben knew that Joshua was not going to forget about that detail even after ruining his life.

"That is not fair!" Paulinne exclaimed.

"Geesh thanks" Ben said sarcastically playing with his food.

"I am sorry Ben, but this was your idea in the first place and you don't get punished but we do?" Paulinne stood up angrily grabbing the rest of her food and left the table.

"You have to admit it is not fair" Josh defended Paulinne once she was out of earshot.

"I got it worse than you did" Ben stated.

"How?" Katie asked making herself known "They get punished, I get left behind and you get adopted. How is it that you get it worse?" Katie had tears in her eyes "You are going to leave us"

"They are making you leave us?" Josh asked "Wait! You got adopted? By who?"

"How do you know all this?" Ben asked Katie.

"I was outside Emma's office"

"Lets get back to what is important please! You got adopted?" Josh asked with a smile.

"Lidya and Joshua adopted me" Josh's smile disappeared.

"Why?" Josh asked Ben just shrugged in response "Why you?" Josh got up from the table leaving his food behind, he got out of the room.

"How is this my fault?" Ben asked to no one in particular.

"You think that everything that happens to you is the end of the world, but you don't realize that you always get what we all would die to have. You are not even grateful" Katie said angrily.

"Aren't you supposed to be like 6?" Ben asked angrily.

"I still know some things better than you" Katie stomped out of the room leaving Ben in shock and alone at the table. Several of the other kids were looking at him from the other tables and making feel uncomfortable. He got up going towards his room and remembering that Josh was probably going to be there. He took a detour and entered one of the empty classrooms.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, Lily and James appeared moving quickly, as if dancing, in front of him.

"I can't believe they are mad at me!" Ben started ranting "At me! I didn't ask to be adopted, I didn't want to be adopted"

The lights started dancing around him and he could feel them tickling him. He soon forgot about how mad he was and started having fun.

That is how Emma found him a couple of minutes later, except the lights disappeared before she could see them.

"May I talk to you Ben?" She asked smiling, Ben nodded in consent.

She sat down in an empty chair and Ben stood in front of her.

"I know you are scared" She started.

"Am not" Ben stated quickly.

"Having a family is not something you know, and it must be difficult to accept changes you never thought you could have"

"They never asked me"

"They never thought you wouldn't want to"

Ben put his head down ashamed.

"Is there a reason why you don't want to?" Emma asked kindly.

"I don't want new parents" Ben blurted out. He hadn't actually ever realized this, and it made him feel weird inside. New parents? It is not like he ever had parents in the first place. Except for the first year of his life. They hadn't wanted him though, they had left him. Then why didn't he hate them? Why did he felt that he could never let anyone take that place?

"Lidya and Joshua love you very much"

"I love them too"

"Give them a chance" Mrs. Lovegood stood up and let Ben alone.

He was glad she left, he needed to think.

Lily and James came back, this time just hovering in front of him, as if they knew what he was feeling inside.

Without actually knowing why, tears started coming out of Ben's eyes. He didn't feel sad nor angry. But he did feel a lot better a couple of minutes later when the tears stopped.

He got up and went to have lunch.

He found Katie, Paulinne and Josh at a table, without even thinking about food he walked over and sat down.

"I was adopted today by Lidya and Joshua. I found that about it yesterday when we came back from London" He explained himself while looking at Paulinne's eyes.

"Katie told us" Paulinne said coldly.

"I am not leaving you, but I am going to go to a school starting January. I will still get to come back here afterwards" Ben continued.

"Why did they adopt you?" Josh asked hurt.

"I don't know" Ben answered honestly, this answer was enough for his friends. They nodded, but Ben knew they were still hurt. He had never known that his friends maybe wanted to have a family, that they were now a little jealous of him getting a family and not even wanting one. Even Katie looked hurt.

"Can I be adopted too?" Katie asked timidly.

"You will someday" Ben promised her.

"By Lidya and Joshua?" Katie asked hopeful.

"By someone better" Ben answered.

"Be happy about it ok?" Paulinne said.

Ben didn't answer. He didn't believe in making a promise he knew he wasn't going to keep.

That night Ben was in his new bedroom. Apparently being adopted meant he had to sleep by himself. If it weren't for Lily and James he would feel very lonely and scared. Now he just felt angry and anxious.

Against his better judgement he fell asleep almost immediately. He was exhausted.

Time went on. His friends weren't angry at him anymore but it wasn't the same. They didn't include him in everything they did, and they sometimes stopped talking when he was near. Lidya and James took him out a lot, to parks, restaurants, the movies. He liked the movies, the parks were pretty and some of the restaurants had good food. Katie was the only one that was always waiting for him to come back and tell her all about his day. She still asked him if Lidya and Joshua would adopt her, she even asked them once. She never got the answer she wanted.

The night before Christmas he was told to put on a black pants, white shirt and black jacket. He had never worn anything like it before, it was called a suit. He didn't like it, it was very uncomfortable and the shoes hurt. They were going to go have dinner with William (he was now supposed to call him uncle William) and his mother. Ben liked Mrs. Abel so he wasn't too mad about the idea. Besides, he remembered how she cooked.

It was an hour drive where they talked about everything they could think of. Joshua taught him some games and Lidya taught him new songs. It was a good drive to London. When he saw out the window he was passing 4 Privet Drive, he had forgotten that Mrs. Abel's house was around this house. He could see through the window that the Dursleys had a very large tree inside with a lot of lights. They all looked very happy. They were hugging a fat boy that he could only assume was Duddley.

They waited outside Mrs. Abel's house for them be invited in. It wasn't long before William welcomed them.

Mrs. Abel had a tree very alike the one he had seen on the Dursley's house, there were colorful boxes in the floor and candles in the middle of the table. There was a large roast beef and ham with lots of vegetables and a huge cake in the kitchen. Ben was very excited about how the night promised to be like.

He ate everything he could until he could no longer move and was sure he would explode. But when he was told that the colorful boxes where gifts and that they all were for him, he founded the strength to run to them.

He got a soccer ball, several shirts, a couple of books and a couple of car toys, one red and one blue. He was going to give Katie the red one, he promised himself.

The grown ups went to the living room to talk among them and left Harry in the front yard playing with his new soccer ball. Careful of not being seen he put the ball down and left towards where he had seen the Dursley's house. For some unknown reason, he felt compelled to them. As if he had to be there.

It took him longer than he had thought it would to get to 4 Privet Drive.

He finally got there and knocked the door expectantly.

The fat boy opened the door.

"Hello" Ben greeted happily.

"Who are you?" the fat boy asked rudely.

"Who is it darling?" Mrs. Dursley asked from inside. She walked towards the door until she was standing in front of Ben.

"You again" She sneered.

"Merry Christmas Mrs. Dursley"

"You are not coming into my house this time you little monster. Go away before my husband sees you and never come back Potter" she said it in a harsh whisper and slammed the door on his face.

Every time he saw that woman he thought she was even weirder than before. He had no clue why Mrs. Dursley would hate him so much, or maybe she just hated everyone since he had never seen her being nice.

Feeling confused and awkward he decided to go back to Mrs. Abel's house.

A sight waited for him. Lidya was crying on Mrs. Abel's shoulder. Joshua and William were walking down the street screaming his name. Bollocks, I am in trouble, Ben thought.

Lidya was the first to see him, she ran towards him and almost crashed his ribs with a hug. Joshua and William saw him nest, both of them looked extremely angry and Mrs. Abel looked disappointed.

"Are you all right?" Lidya kept hugging him and crying without actually wanting an answer to her question.

Lightly Mrs. Abel took Lidya's arm and make her take some steps back.

"Where were you?" Joshua asked calmly.

"I went for a walk" Harry answered.

"A walk where?" Joshua prided.

"Down the street" Harry stated.

"Try that again" Joshua said.

"I went to the Dursley's house"

"Who?" Joshua asked

"That is where I found him" William explained.

"Why?" Joshua changed his question.

Ben just shrugged not really wanting to give him an answer, and not really having one.

"That is all you are going to say?" Joshua asked.

Ben just stared at him.

"Go get your things. We are leaving. Thank Mrs. and Mr. Abel" Joshua said "You are grounded"

He had left for less than an hour, he didn't even think they would notice. He was angry at Joshua's reaction, he was exaggerating. Ben went to get his things, thanked uncle William and Mrs. Abel and got into the car.

The hour drive back was a one sided conversation of Lidya. Neither Ben nor Joshua said a word. As soon as they were home, Ben got out and ran to his room, leaving all his things in the car.

Joshua had kept his word, Ben was grounded until his birthday. At least his birthday gift wasn't only a new school, but being able to run free again.

Lidya had wanted to take him to take a haircut before school started but Ben had refused. He liked his long hair, he used it to cover a scar that he had always had in his forehead.

Just like every year he stayed up late to see the fireworks from his window. Lidya and Joshua had proposed the possibility of going out and seeing the fireworks up close. Ben had declined, this was his special moment and he didn't like the idea of celebrating a new year with the rest of the world instead of a birthday with Lily and James, Just like he'd had since he was 3 years old.

They went on for less than 10 minutes, but he enjoyed every second of it. Joshua and Lidya had respected his wish to be left alone.

The view from his previous room had been better. The window had been bigger and that room was in a higher floor. He was tired of saying what he wanted and not wanted out of his life, he had learned that they weren't going to hear what he had to say anyway, so he just started nodding to almost everything he was told.

On Monday he was going to start a new school and will have to make new friends. He was very surprised of how things had turned out. It wasn't as if he was being ignored, but apparently he wasn't a part of the house anymore. The other kids greeted him and didn't mind if he played with them but he was never directly invited to anything. Not even Paulinne or Josh. They had started hanging out with Kurt, Ben had been replaced. Who would have thought that the only one who went out of her way to make him feel welcomed would be Katie? Now he felt bad about how he had always treated her. He was very grateful to have her right now.

"Happy Birthday Ben" He congratulated himself "Goodnight Lily, goodnight James" and went to sleep.

For the first time in that he could remember the boys weren't there to give him a birthday hug, Josh wasn't angry at being woken up and Ben wasn't really interested in going out of his room.

"Goodmorning birthday boy" Lidya came into his room carrying a small birthday cake with a candle. Joshua was right behind him with a gift.

"Happy Birthday lad" Joshua came closer and gave him a gift.

"Make a wish and blow the candle" Lidya said excitedly

"There is nothing I want" Ben said with a small smile.

Lidya and Joshua beamed, probably thinking he meant he was happy with what he already had.

Ben blew the candle and ate a piece of cake for breakfast.

"So what do you want to do today? We can do whatever you want" Lidya said.

"Can we go out?" Ben wasn't feeling like being in the house if the other children were going to treat him like a guest instead of a brother.

"Of course! Whatever you want. We will leave you so you can get ready, we'll meet you at the entrance in half an hour" Joshua and Lidya left.

Ben got out of his bed slowly and started getting ready for the day. He really loved Lidya and Joshua, and he almost always had fun with them, so he was actually looking forward to the day.

They went to the park to get ice cream, a clown made him a balloon sword, the Joshua got one in another color so they could play. Lidya kept taking pictures throughout the whole day. They had pizza for lunch and went to see The Christmas Vacation at the movie theater, where he had a large popcorn and soda for himself.

Afterwards they went to an arcade and he played some games against Joshua. He met a couple of kids there and played with them for a little while.

When it was late they went back to the house. Joshua and Lidya tucked him in.

"Do you want me to tell you the story?" Lidya asked to which Ben nodded.

"Uncle William and Joshua had always been best friends, they met at the police academy when they were very young. One very cold October night they received a call that told them they were supposed to go to 4 Privet Drive in London where a baby was waiting for them. They took care of the baby and called me to help. I knew that the baby was special as soon as I saw him. I fell in love with the baby and I never wanted to let go, so I knew there was only one place for him, Berkshire orphanage. This baby had no mommy or daddy, we didn't know his name, so I named him Ben. Mrs Lovegood fell in love with the baby as soon as she saw him as well and opened the doors for him and me. With your Uncle William and Joshua right beside me, we came to live here with baby Ben. Joshua didn't need too much convincing he had said yes almost the same day I had come to them. I didn't know back then that he was in love with me, that could have been part of the reason he had agreed to move with me. Some years later I realized what a wonderful man he was and a married him. We were only missing one thing, you. That is how we became a family"

Lidya was beaming at him and Joshua was smiling. Ben hadn't heard this version of the story before, but I guess Lidya had thought of adjusting it to newer events.

"Goodnight love" Lidya kissed him in the forehead and Joshua squeezed his hand before they left, turning off the light and closing the door behind them.

As soon as they left Lily and James came.

"It was a great birthday. I am 10 now. I had cake for breakfast, and chocolate ice cream in the park…" He started to describe his day to his friends in great detail; it felt like the balls of lights were listening intently to every word he had to say.

The next day he went to breakfast with everyone else, hopping he had been missed the day before. When he got there no one glanced his way. He saw Katie, Paulinne, Josh and Kurt were talking in a table so he decided to join them.

"Happy belated birthday Ben!" Katie got up to give him a hug.

"Happy belated birthday to you too! How does 7 years old feel like?" He asked the younger girl happily.

"Like I am older and wiser" She said trying to act very seriously.

"Happy Birthday" Paulinne, Josh and Kurt exclaimed with a smile.

"Where were you? I couldn't find you anywhere" Katie dragged him to a sit to her right.

"I went to the park and the movie theater"

"What movie did you see?" Katie asked excited.

"One about a Christmas going wrong but then everything was perfect" Ben gave a bad and short summary, he hadn't really payed that much attention to the movie, he had been busy with the popcorn.

"How was your birthday" Ben asked Katie

"It was awesome! Everyone sang happy birthday and we played tag in the yard with the older kids. We had chocolate cake at lunch and cookies for dinner. I just wish you had been there" Katie said smiling.

"I will next year. I promise" Ben promised the girl.

He talked with his friends all day and got to know a Kurt a little better. He was a little bossy, but he was nice enough.

He told them about how scared he was of going to school the next week and they all reassured him that everything would be fine and that he would come back there every afternoon, so he still had them to lean on. He was happy to be with Paulinne and Josh again, it felt like before. Kurt being there as well didn't bother him.

The next week was awesome, he didn't feel so alone with his friends, that made time fly by.

On Monday 8 of January 1990 he went to his first day of school.

Ben walked into the classroom feeling very nervous, he didn't know how to act or what he was supposed to do. Was it the same as his classes back home? He walked in, all the seats but one was taken. There were less than 10 children in there, and they were all looking straight at him.

"We have a new classmate, please welcome Mr. Benjamin Alec" the teacher said. She was wearing a tight bun, she was a little on the plump side and very tall. She looked friendly enough. "I am Miss Marigold" She introduced herself to Ben "Please take a sit" She pointed to the empty seat in the middle of the front row and then addressed the rest of the class "I will call out your names to make sure you all came back from your holidays in one piece" everyone started giggling.

"We've established Mr. Alec is here…

Bricks, Jasmine

Duke, Kyle

Granger, Hermione

Lee, Kim

Niles, Charles

Ozz, John

Piers, David

Simmers, Melody"


	5. Chapter 5

AN ANGEL IS MY HERO

KARMA IS A … - CHAPTER 5

"How about today you tell me about your holidays, that way Mr. Alec can get to know you and you can get to know Mr. Alec" Mrs. Marigold started the class "besides, it is the first day back. I am in no rush to start working" she said giggling and in a whisper. It made everyone in the room giggle. Ben smiled. A girl with messy bushy brown hair was almost jumping in her seat trying to get the teacher's attention.

"Why don't you start Mr. Alec" Ben could see that the girl with crazy hair was annoyed at being ignored and was now glaring at him.

Ben stood up besides his sit. "Hello, my name is Ben. I just turned 10 years old last week. This holidays I went to a movie theater several times and to the park, I even went to London a couple of times. I ate ice cream and pizza and I got adopted" The latter surprised everyone in the room, even the teacher who quickly recovered.

"Thank you Mr. Alec" the teacher recovered herself "That was interesting. How about Mrs. Bricks"

"I went to America to visit my grandparents and they took me to Disneyland. We saw Mickey and Minnie and Pluto and Goofy. We even saw Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, I got to wear a tiara and take lots of pictures. My parents gave me that trip as a Christmas present. They always give me awesome presents" It was as if she was showing off.

"Mrs Granger" Apparently that was the crazy-hair girl's name.

"My parents and I went to Paris, we went to see the Eiffel Tower which is the tallest structure in Paris, we went to the Louvre Museum which as you all now has the Mona Lisa painting inside, it wasn't as impressive as I had thought, I have to say. There were far more impressive painting in the museum, even in the same room as the Mona Lisa, but it is still a painting you must see. It was an incredible experience. I got to learn so much…"

"Thank you Mrs. Granger" the teacher thankfully interrupted the girl's monologue.

"Mr. Ozz"

"But I wasn't finished" The girl interrupted.

"We need to share the time we have with everyone" The teacher stated. The girl just scowled and looked away.

"Mr. Ozz"

"I just stayed home and played video games with my brother and my father. My mom made us dinner on Christmas. That is about it" He said quickly.

"Thank you Mr. Ozz, Mrs. Lee"

It went on for a while, everyone had similar stories, every one had spent their holidays with their families.

After everyone had had their turn, the teacher said it was time for their lunch break and let them go.

Ben got up and followed his classmates since he had no idea what he was supposed to do or where he was supposed to go.

"Don't touch me" The girl that had gone to Disney screeched when he unintentionally touched her arm "You could be contagious"

"What are you talking about Jasmine?" the crazy-haired girl asked irritated.

"He doesn't have any parents. He must have done something to them to not have them now" She said matter of factly.

"That is just stupid" The crazy-haired girl said exasperated.

"You are stupid"

"Great come back Jasmine"

"No one likes you" Jasmine told her with a sneer and walked away.

He could see that the girl that was left behind was becoming a little teary eyed.

"Umm.. Thanks" Ben said a little uneasy "I didn't understand what that was about"

"They don't like you because you are adopted. I am Hermione by the way"

"I am Ben. It isn't my fault I am adopted, I didn't even wanted to get adopted" Ben defended himself.

"Calm down. I am not them. I don't care if you are adopted or not. What happened to your parents?"

"I don't know. I never met them"

"I am sorry" She really did look apologetic.

"Like I said. It is ok. I never met them"

"I am a little hungry. Do you want to go grab lunch with me?" Hermione looked very hopeful at him.

"I guess" He agreed and walked with her towards a large room that looked a lot like the room where he has breakfast every day back at home, only much bigger. There were a lot of kids here, younger and older. Everyone was talking which made the room very loud. Almost all the tables were full.

"Did you bring your own food or do you need to buy some? I always bring my own food. I need to be careful of what I am eating, I don't want to get cavities you know. Both my parents are dentists" She started ranting.

"I brought my own food" He showed her the paper bag in his hand.

"Perfect. Follow me" She guided him to a corner of the room where a small table was empty and sat down, expecting Ben to sit across from her.

"So Ben. Tell me about yourself" Hermione almost ordered.

"Well, like I said, I am adopted…"

"That is not telling me about yourself, that is not who you are but your situation. I want to know you" Hermione interrupted rudely.

"I am someone that likes to be with his friends, that likes mornings and loves being outdoors. I love staying up late to talk to the stars"

"You talk to the stars?"

"It is rude to interrupt someone when he is talking you know" Hermione looked ashamed and stayed quite.

"I don't know what else you like to know"

"What book are you reading now?"

"I don't like to read"

"You don't" Hermione looked as if he had slapped her in the face.

"I only read textbooks when I have to"

"I love reading.." she started ranting about every book she had read in her life, Ben just tuned her off "You should try it sometime"

"What?"

"Reading. Weren't you listening to me?"

"No" Ben didn't feel apologetic about it. In his opinion the girl loved the sound of her own voice.

"We need to go back. Class will start soon enough" She started getting up "I hope Mrs. Marigold starts teaching us something now instead of wasting our time like she did in the morning"

Ben thought Hermione was being like that because Mrs. Marigold hadn't let her finish her story. She had finished it during the lunch break though. Ben now was sure he never wanted to go to Paris, that girl made it sound like homework.

The second part of the day must have made Hermione very happy, they have covered something about Math, which was a subject Ben was very bad at. His head hurt a lot by the end of the day.

The last part of the school day couldn't have gone any faster, he was almost running out of the room as soon as the bell rang. Hermione ran after him.

"Ben wait!"

Ben stopped on his tracks before crossing the front door of the school. He could vaguely see Joshua's car parked in front waiting for him. He wished he was inside already.

"I want you to meet my parents, they should already be here"

The girl dragged him away from Joshua.

"But Joshua ir already here" he tried to get away from her grip.

"Perfect! I can meet him too"

Not what Ben had in mind.

They stopped in front of a light brown small car and two people got out. They were an average looking couple, they seemed nice enough.

"Mom, dad. This is Ben" Hermione pushed him towards them "He is my friend" She said beaming.

"A pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Granger" Ben felt a little awkward.

"Ben" He heard Joshua called him from behind. He turned around and saw the smiling man "Ready to go?"

"Hello, you must be Ben's father. I am Hermione, Ben's friend" Hermione introduced herself quickly.

"Joshua" Ben corrected, Joshua just nodded and took the girls hand.

"Nice to meet you Hermione"

"This are my parents, Monica and Wendell" She then introduced her parents.

"A pleasure" Joshua nodded and took their hands.

"Nice to meet you Mr…" Mrs Granger said.

"Alec, Joshua Alec"

"Very nice to meet you Mr. Alec. We would love to have Ben over for dinner sometime" Mr. Granger said.

"I am sure we can arrange that for the near future" Joshua put his hand on Ben's shoulder as support "We should go now" he then addressed Ben. Ben nodded and said goodbye to Mr and Mrs Granger, and to Hermione who had proclaimed to be her new friend.

"Bye Ben" she yelled happily as he walked away.

"She seems nice. I am happy to see you have a new friend" Joshua said on their way to the car.

"She is not my friend. I don't think. I just met her" Ben said quickly, Joshua just laughed.

"She seems lovely even if she is not your friend" He winked at him. Ben didn't get what was so amusing.

Back at the house Katie was listening intently at every word he was saying, describing how his day had been. About the rooms, his classmates and the teacher. Paulinne, Josh and Kurt didn't seem as interested on the story but listened to it.

"How was your day" Ben asked them.

"Nothing interesting or new to tell" Paulinne answered with a small smile.

"Ok" Ben said.

"What do you want to do?" Ben asked.

"We need to do homework" Josh whined.

"We should start on that" Paulinne told the older boys "Bye Ben" and they left him with Katie.

"Did I do something wrong?" Ben asked Katie once his friends had left.

"They are trying not to be jealous, but they are not doing a very good job about it" Katie explained.

"Jealous?" Ben asked confused "About what?"

"About school, and your teachers and just the fact that you get to go outside. But mostly about Lidya and Joshua"

"I didn't…"

"I know you didn't ask for it. That is the problem" at Ben's confused look, she continued "They, We, ask for it every night. You don't. And you are the one that got it"

"You ask for this every night? I didn't know that. Why?"

"What do you mean why?" Now Katie was the one that looked confused.

"Are you crazy? Why wouldn't we? We all wish to be loved, to have a mom and dad. To have normal lives" Katie explained.

"We are loved, we have normal lives"

"No we don't. We are not normal Ben. Normal kids get to play outside, get to go to school and have a mom and dad"

"I've never felt like I wasn't loved or that I was missing something"

"And now we know why you never felt it"

"What do you mean?"

"We all knew that you were special to Lidya, we just never knew how much. In a way she has always been like a mom to you. Maybe that is why you never felt like you needed one"

Ben didn't think that was right, he honestly hadn't known that Lidya had wanted to adopt him. How would he had felt that he had a mom in her?

"I don't think that is it"

"And that is part of the problem" Katie said sadly "You don't even realize it"

"Can we talk about something else?" Ben asked wanting to change the subject, which Katie was very happy to do.

"Tell me about Hermione" Ben groaned.

"She is just this weird girl. She is very bossy" He explained, Katie giggled.

"She seems nice" Katie said.

"You don't know her" He defended himself.

"I would love to meet her. You think I can?"

"Maybe, I will ask Mrs. Lovegood if you can come with me when I go to her house. She invited me for dinner"

"I would love to go!" She looked very excited.

"Maybe you can go in my place" Ben said with a huge smile. Katie laughed and punched him lightly in the arm.

"Don't be mean!" Katie said laughing "She cant be that bad"

"She is not" Ben said seriously "She is just bossy and weird. Who prefers to learn math than to talk about their holidays?"

"You just described Josh" Katie laughed, Ben started making the connection and agreed with her and laughed.

"Maybe she is not that bad" ben said with a shrug when he accomplished to catch his breath.

The next days went without any mishaps. Ben realized that Hermione really wasn't that bad once you got her to calm down her excitement, or to not talk to much, or to not be too bossy. He realized that he was her first friend it brought a feeling in him to want to protect her, especially from Jasmine. That girl really didn't like his new friend, what he didn't understand was why Hermione cared so much. She always had tears on her eyes after every encounter she had with the other girl. It was starting to bother Ben as if Jasmine was being mean to him instead of at her. Whenever he witnessed one of their discussions, he started to feel as if he was boiling inside. Once he had almost shoved Jasmine to get her to leave Hermione alone but the girl had weirdly tripped by herself and fell to the ground. She hurt herself a little badly; she hit her head. She had to be taken to the infirmary and went home for the rest of the day. He would have preferred to be the one that hurt the girl, but at least this way he wasn't in trouble and Jasmine had still gotten hurt.

Karma, that is what Lidya said it was called when you got what you deserved by life, was real. He had seen it several times since Jasmine. He had seen a boy get punched in the face by an older boy once during lunch break and next thing Ben knew the boy was being attacked by bees. He had seen a man run with a woman's purse and next thing he knew a dog bit the man tripped and fell hard to the floor, the police was able to catch him then. He had once even witnessed a hit and run while he was driving home from school with Joshua. It had been very scary to see, but what had shocked and angered Ben, had been the fact that the car had tried to drive away. The next thing Ben knew, the car looked as it was flying and then the car was upside down in the middle of the street. No one else got hurt, not even the driver, but the rest of the people that had been there went to get him and stopped him from getting away. Joshua was one of those people, Ben felt proud of Joshua that day. Ben had told the story to anyone that would listen.

"Then the car just flew into the sky and crashed in the ground, it was upside down. Joshua ran towards it and pulled the guy out" Katie and Paulinne looked scared, Josh and Kurt looked excited.

"Did he die?" Paulinne asked in a scared whisper.

"No. He was fine. The police came and took him" Ben calmed the girls down. Both of the girls exhaled and did calm down.

"How about the person that was hit?" Katie asked.

"It was a girl, a little older than me I think. An ambulance took her, I don't know how she is" Ben said with a little concern.

"I hope she is all right" Katie and Paulinne said at the same time.

"I hope the driver goes to jail" Kurt said icely.

"I am sure he will" Ben agreed.

Katie and Ben were left alone as it was becoming usual this days.

"I am going to dinner with to Hermione's house this Friday. Mrs. Lovegood said no to you coming with him" Ben told the younger girl sadly.

"I never thought she would have said yes anyway" Katie said disappointed.

"I will try again" Ben said.

"No. That is ok" Katie smiled sadly and left teary eyed.

KATIE

Not really wanting to let Ben see her cry she opted to leave the boy and went straight to Mrs Lovegood's office. She was sure that if she promised to be good and do more chores or something, the older woman would have to let her go with Ben. She wanted to meet his new friend. She wanted to feel as if she was still part of his life. She couldn't help but feel that was being left behind, maybe even replaced. His life sounded so exciting and perfect. She never had anything fun to say after his stories. Her life was boring.

She knocked loudly on the door and waited to be let in.

"Good Afternon Mrs Lovegood" She greeted nicely and waited to be asked to sit down.

"Good Morning Katherine. Please sit down" The woman had a nice aura to her "How may I help you today?"

"Ben told me he was going to go eat with one of his friends on Friday…" Katie started explaining but was interrupted by Mrs. Lovegood.

"Let me stop you there. Ben doesn't follow my rules, you do. No one is allowed to go outside those doors and you know that"

"I know but…"

"No buts" Mrs. Lovegood interrupted once more.

"But.."

"No buts Katherine"

"I promise…"

"No Katherine"

Katie huffed and left without saying good bye.

She wasn't paying attention to where she was going and bumped into Lidya falling on the floor.

"Oh I am sorry, are you ok?" Lidya helped her get up.

"I am sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going" Katie apologized, Lidya just smiled.

"Are you ok?" Lidya asked concerned.

"Mrs. Lovegood won't let me go with Ben" Katie couldn't stop the tears from coming out.

"Won't let you go where?" Lidya hugged her.

"To Hermione's house"

"Oh, I am sorry Katie. You know you are not allowed"

"Ben is"

"It is not the same" Lidya tried to dry some of the tears on Katie's face.

"Why?"

"Ben doesn't follow the same rules you do" Lidya tried to explain.

"Why him?" She wasn't jealous exactly, she was really happy about Ben being adopted and everything that had happened to him since, she just wanted to experience it with him.

"What do you mean?" Lidya asked confused.

"Why not me?" Katie asked and tears came out again. She didn't wait for an answer; she had asked that question several times already and never actually gotten a real answer. She always got hugs or kisses, but never an answer.

A couple had come last week to pick Jane, a 2 year old that had come to live with them only a couple of weeks earlier. She had thought that they were he parents that were coming back to get her, but she had overheard that they were adopting her. She had cried to them and begged them to take her with them. Joshua had had to drag her away. Needless to say, the couple hadn't taken her with them, which was fine. She hadn't actually thought about it in the moment, but if she had been taken, she had had to leave Ben behind. Joshua and Lidya were actually her only option as adopting parents. She just needed them to realize it, it was taking a long time though. She had to be the perfect girl, it was more difficult than she thought. She got into trouble several times, she just couldn't keep her mouth shut. She got into a fight with Paulinne several days before, not that she had told Ben about it, and Paulinne hadn't told him either.

"You are supposed to be his best friend" The younger girl argued.

"I am" Paulinne answered not very convincingly.

"You don't act like it"

"It is just not the same"

"Why?"

"He is not one of us anymore"

"Yes he is"

"No, he is not"

Katie knew Paulinne words had some true into them, but she still felt very badly that Ben's friends weren't being good friends lately.

"Maybe is not the same, but it is still Ben" Katie tried to reason with her.

"I know, but it just doesn't feel the same. I am not being mean"

"Yes you are. He knows you don't really want to be his friend"

"I do!" She said quickly "I just don't feel like I am part of his life anymore. I have no idea what he talks about most of the time"

"Then listen so you can learn" Katie mocked.

"I don't think it is fair to me that I have to hear about his stories though. I don't get to see any of the things he is talking about ever"

"We will someday!" Katie exclaimed.

"Don't lie to yourself. No one wants us. We will never get a family"

That had hit a nerve in Katie and she had punched Paulinne in the stomach. Lidya had had to separate them. Katie had had to be in the time out room for two hours after that incident, she got out just in time for Ben to come back from school.

At least remembering that day had shifted her emotions, from sad to disappointed. Disappointed was easier to handle than sadness.

She had had a similar conversation with Josh too another day but that one hadn't finished in a fight.

"Aren't you supposed to be best friends?" Katie asked the boy curiously.

"We were. Not anymore" Josh stated.

"Why not?"

"Things change, we don't have anything in common anymore"

"Just because he was adopted and goes to school?" Katie asked confused.

"No"

"I don't get it" Katie pressured.

"It is not about being adopted or not, or going to school or not. It is about him acting as if it is nothing. It is everything, we would all die to have what he has and he is not being grateful. He is awful to Mr. and Mrs Alec, I can't help but hate him for that, I am sorry but it is how I feel"

"But he didn't want to be adopted" Katie defended the boy.

"That just makes it worst. He shouldn't have what we would all do anything to have and keep" Katie had similar views on it so she changed the conversation to the other thing he had said "I've never seen him act awful to Lidya or Joshua"

"How would you describe how he treats them then? He has never called them anything but Lidya or Joshua, not even once. When they take him out he always looks like he is being punished. When he was told he was going to go to school he got mad and made a tantrum, when they go anywhere near him, he shrugs the away"

"Awful still seems like a harsh way to describe it"

"How would you describe it?"

Katie had nothing to say after that, Josh was right.

"I don't really hate him, he is Ben after all. I just hate how he is acting about everything. I don't support him. I cant be his best friend while he is like this"

"Shouldn't you tell him all that since he is your best friend? Make him see what you see"

"I should, you are right about that. But I can't. I am jealous of what he has and I want to have it, that just makes me the worst person to help him see the error of his ways"

"You are being a little overdramatic" Katie giggled.

"it is still true" Josh smiled back "You are not that bad Katherine, and I am very happy that you don't smell like poop anymore"

"What?" Katie asked confused and Josh started laughing.

Josh started tickling the girl, now she knew he had done it so they would stop talking about Ben.

Katie liked Josh, he was honest and he was a good friend. She had a little problem with liking Paulinne at the moment though.

It was time for dinner. She looked for Ben but he wasn't anywhere she could see. There were Josh, Paulinne and Kurt in a table laughing at something Kurt had said. She decided to eat with other people this time. She sat in a table with Tania, Joss and Laura. They were 8, 5 and 6 years old in that order. She liked them a lot, they were very fun, specially Joss. They laughed the whole night and talked about non important things, like the butterflies that lived in the yard or the spider that lived in their room. Tania hated spiders and just covered her ears and shut her eyes when the topic came up. The rest of the girls kept it going just because they thought it was funny.

After dinner she was left behind since her shoelaces had gotten untied. She went back to her room by herself.

As Katie was walking back to her room she heard a voice and walked towards it. It was coming from one of the empty classrooms, one they barely used. As she got closer she recognized Ben's voice. He was talking to himself.

"I miss them sometimes. Hermione is awesome, she is becoming one of my best friends and Katie is really nice, but I miss Paulinne and Josh. I miss planning adventures and running everywhere, getting in trouble and planning adventures like when we went to London. They were right beside me when I met the Dursleys. They were always right beside me. Maybe that is why I hate Jasmine so much, Hermione is my only real friend right now, I can't stand anyone hurting her. Today Jasmine pour milk all over Hermione's sandwich just because, when she was about to leave she slipped and grabbed on to some other girls lunch making everything fly and land in her head. I don't know why but it felt as if I had gotten something to do with it, as if I had made her slip and as if I had made the food land on her. I know it's impossible, but it made me feel better, as if I had defended Hermione. She is such a good person, she even went to help Jasmine clean up afterwards"

Katie picked into the room and saw that Ben was by himself, the lights weren't turned on, but it looked as if Ben had light in front of him. Maybe a candle? She couldn't really see. Should she let him know she was there? Maybe not, it looked as if the boy had somethings he wanted to let out. If he had wanted Katie to know he would have told her.

Besides, apparently Ben didn't really saw her as a friend; he just thought she was nice. That had hurt a little, but in some way she had always known. It was why she was very relentless as always being there for him, she wanted to be her friend. She wanted to stop being the little girl that hang out with them.

"Lidya and Joshua aren't so bad. They let me be most of the time, in return I have to go to dinner with them or tell them about my day. I guess I can live with that. I just can't seem to make me call them mom or dad. It just feels wrong. As if I were betraying someone if I did, I just have no idea who I am supposed to be betraying." Ben paused for a couple of seconds and then continued "I had a dream last night, it was weird and it felt real. There was a dog, a rat, a reindeer and a man laughing while the animals played. It looked really fun and I couldn't stop laughing. There was a beautiful woman there too, with red long hair and brilliant green eyes. She was smiling as well, but asking them to stop. Of course the animals didn't listen to the woman, animals don't listen, but she kept trying anyway. I was then put in the reindeers back by the man. The woman then got mad and kept yelling Potter over and over again. I fell from the reindeer but it didn't hurt, a man with messy black hair and glasses picked me up, he looked scared but started laughing when I started laughing. It was a weird dream"

Katie sat down to hear the dream; she thought it was a pretty dream, except for the rat, why would anyone dream about rats?

"I am getting pretty tired, I think I am going to go to bed soon"

Scared of being found out, Katie quickly got up and glanced into the room where Ben was. She thought she saw two balls of light dancing around Ben while he was laughing but she had surely been to tired and were just seeing things. She ran away towards her room before Ben could see her.

The lights were turned off and the girls were asleep. She carefully got her things and got ready for bed trying not to wake anyone up or tripping with anything in the dark. She got back to her bed and laid there. The dancing lights were something she could get out of her head. They were very bright and they were very pretty. Why had she thought she had seen them? What had she seen really?

Almost immediately she fell asleep and started having her own dream.

She was cold and a woman was hugging her strongly to her chest. The woman was crying and walking. The woman was young and had short red wavy hair and light brown eyes. She was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She didn't want to ever leave that woman. But she then disappeared from her sight. Katie just felt cold and as if she was laying in something very hard. She started crying for the woman to come back but she never did.

Katie woke up scared. The sun was starting to come out so she decided not to go back to sleep afraid of the dream coming up again

Maybe the fact that Ben had mentioned a beautiful woman with red hair had made her think of her own version of a beautiful woman with red hair, only hers had very similar eyes to hers. Now that she was seeing herself in the mirror she felt as if the woman looked remarkably like her but for the hair. Katie's was black up to her shoulders and straight. She threw water to her face and decided to get ready for the day.


	6. Chapter 6

AN ANGEL IS MY HERO

YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME - CHAPTER 6

HERMIONE

She had always loved school. Don't get her wrong, she loved her parents and she cherished every second spent with them. But school was her favorite place in the world. It was were you were told to read and you were told to learn. Everywhere else she was the weird girl that read and asked a lot of questions, in school she was supposed to do these things so it wasn't weird. She was aware that she annoyed her teacher and a lot of her classmates from time to time, but they couldn't ignore her. She was supposed to ask questions there.

Since January, school had gotten 100% better if it were possible. Ben had come in the middle of the school year which in itself was almost unheard of, but she was glad it happened. She now had a friend. Everyone in the room was nice enough to her, but she didn't really have any friends. Jasmine used to be her best friend when they were in kindergarten but had started to ignore her on the first day of elementary school. She still missed and still tried to reach out but at least now she had Ben.

Ben was the best friend anyone could ask her. She knew he annoyed him sometimes, but she tried to restrain herself from not talking too much, or not being overly excited about things she knew he didn't care about. He still listened when she wanted to talk about a book she had read, or when she wanted to go over answers of an exam they just had. They compromised.

Today after school Ben would be coming home with her, their parents had arranged for Ben to come over for a play date and dinner. She was very excited. She had never had a friend over, not even Jasmine. She wanted everything to be perfect. She had gotten over the menu with her mother: fish sticks obviously and chips, her favorite food. They were going to have lemonade and ice cream as dessert. She had monopoly ready to play with their parents and a book he wanted Ben to take with him. It was her favorite book Little Women, it would be great to discuss it after he had finished reading it. She would love to have someone else than her parents to discuss books with.

She went over to the topic points for conversation with her parents the day before. Not that she thought they could ever embarrass her or any thing, she just didn't want any awkward moments during the night. Planning always made perfect.

"Ready love?" Her mother picked into her room.

"Ready" She beamed, grabbed her bag and followed her mother to the car.

This was going to be the best day of her life, she was sure of it.

She felt anxious and fidgety. The drive felt as if it had taken ages.

"Calm down love, we will be there soon" Her mother giggled at her daughter's predicament.

"It is taking forever. I am going to be late" Hermione whined.

"We are a couple of minutes away and school doesn't start for another hour" She giggled still, Hermione's face turned red "I know you are excited, but calm down baby girl"

As soon as they got there, Hermione quickly kissed her mother goodbye, got out of the car and practically sprinted to the building, leaving an amused Monica Granger behind.

She went to her classroom and saw that, in fact, it was very early. No one was there yet, the light hadn't even been turned on. She changed that and put her things under her desk. She sat down and waited for Ben to get there. She played with her pencil, tried to read a little and went over her notes from the previous day to make the time go by faster. It didn't work, no one was there yet. Maybe she shouldn't have gotten to school that early.

Finally after what felt like ages she heard footsteps out in the hallway. She was attentive to see who it was, hopefully it was Ben. It wasn't.

"Do you sleep here Granger?"

it was Jasmine.

"I got here early" Hermione explained in a timid voice.

"Not even your parents want you around?" Jasmine laughed, Hermione decided to ignore her and took a book out. It would be better to read while she waited for class to start or Ben to be there, whatever came first.

"Don't ignore me" Jasmine slammed Hermione's book close.

"What do you want Jasmine?" Hermione asked patiently.

"I asked you a question"

"Can you repeat it?"

"Not even your parents want you around?" Jasmine laughed once more.

"I asked to come here earlier today"

"Why is that?"

"Just because" Hermione knew the girl would find a way to ruin the fact that Ben was going to her house after school, so she didn't want her to know.

"You are weird" Jasmine stated making a face, Hermione just stared at her.

"May I go back to my book?"

"Whatever" Jasmine started to walk away and Hermione went back to her book.

"Have you ever thought about getting new teeth?" Jasmine asked from her desk.

"What?" Hermione was startled.

"Your parents are dentist, why do you have such ugly teeth?"

"We are waiting for me to get older so I can have surgery"

"What about your hair?"

"What about it?"

"Are you going to fix that too?"

"What is wrong with my hair?"

"It looks as if a bomb exploded near you" Jasmine laughed even harder.

Tears started coming out of Hermione's eyes.

"You are not only weird, you are ugly"

Hermione was about to say something back when she saw that Ben was standing right behind Jasmine. Ben's eyes were glowing as if they had become to small lights, it was very bright, it almost hurt to see right at them. Next thing she knew Jasmines desk had broken in the mirror and the chair's legs had disappeared. The girl was now in the floor with half a desk crushing her.

Hermione quickly got up to help her. She took the desk off and tried to help Jasmine up, but the girl couldn't move and couldn't stop crying. Hermione ran out of the room to the infirmary and dragged the nurse back with her. They found Jasmine exactly where Hermione had left her and Ben was nowhere in sight. Several of her classmates where already there and trying to help Jasmine any way they could.

"Everyone please give her some space" the nurse called out and carefully started to take care of Jasmine. Feeling like there was nothing else for her to do, Hermione decided to go look for Ben. She found him at the drinking fountain and waited for him to stop drinking water. Ben turned around and was startled to see Hermione behind him.

"Thank you" Hermione said

Ben looked confused.

"I don't know what you did, thank you, but it was wrong" Hermione was now reprimanding her friend "You could have seriously hurt her"

"I didn't do anything" Ben defended himself.

"Yes you did, I saw you"

"I didn't even touch her"

"I know, but you did it" Hermione was sure of it.

Ben annoyed grabbed his hair and some of it let his scar show.

"What is that on your forehead?" Hermione had never seen that scar before.

"Nothing" Ben tried to cover it up.

"That is a scar" Hermione tried to move his hair to see it again but Ben was taller than her and wouldn't let her do it.

"If you know what it is, then why do you ask?"

"You don't have to be so mean" Hermione was annoyed.

"it is a scar" Ben sighed.

"I know that. How did you get it?"

"I've always had it"

"You can't be born with a scar" Hermione mocked.

"I know that. When Joshua found me I already had the scar. I don't remember how or when I got it"

Hermione nodded. "Class is about to start and we need to make sure you didn't hurt Jasmine too badly"

"I didn't hurt her" Ben defended himself once more and Hermione just dragged the boy back to their classroom.

The got there just in time. The bell rang as soon as they walked in. Jasmine wasn't there and everyone was whispering between them. Both Hermione and Ben took their seats and waited for class to start.

That day they had history and geography class in the morning. For lunch break her mother had packed a cheese sandwich and an apple for her. Hermione hadn't wanted to bring Jasmine's topic back so she opted for telling him what she had planned for the evening. The teacher had told the class that Jasmine was fine, that she just had a bruise and her mother had preferred to take her home to rest.

After lunch they had Math class. Hermione loved Math.

As soon as the bell rang she couldn't contain her excitement, she put her books back into her bag and ran towards Ben's desk where he was drooling all over his book. Disgusting.

Hermione started shaking him. "Ben!"

Slowly the boy opened his eyes and started to put his stuff away.

"Hurry up!"

"I'm coming" Ben said but was still too slow in Hermione's opinion

"Mom and dad should be outside waiting for us"

"I'm coming" Ben said again.

Getting impatient, Hermione grabbed Ben's things and put them all in his bag closing it quickly "Lets go" she beamed at her friend and made him ran after her.

"Wait Hermione, I am still not fully awake" The boy yelled from behind.

She saw her father's car parked in front of the school and ran towards it, knowing Ben would follow. Once she reached the car she opened the door and quickly got inside. Seconds later, Ben followed. Her father was laughing.

"How was school?" her father asked between laughs.

"Boring" Ben answered.

"No it wasn't! We learned a lot today. You shouldn't have fallen asleep" She reprimanded her friend.

"I couldn't make myself stay awake" Ben shrugged, Hermione's father was still laughing.

"It is no laughing matter dad!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Of course not" Her father stopped laughing but was still red in the face.

"We can't all be like you" Ben said "To some of us, class is boring" Hermione's father started laughing again and Hermione just huffed.

The rest of the drive to her house was fun, they had turned the radio on and sang some of the songs. Ben didn't know any of them so she decided to teach him her favorite ones. Her house wasn't very far away from school so they got there in no time. She quickly got out of the car and hurry Ben up.

"I'm coming" Ben said and got out of the car, at least it was quicker than what it had taken him to get out of school.

They went inside and Hermione started giving him a tour of the house. Where the living room was, the kitchen, the tv-room, the library, the bathrooms and the bedrooms.

"Can we leave or things somewhere? My bag is a little heavy" Hermione hadn't even noticed that they were still carrying their bags. She took them to the library and left them there.

"This way we can come back later to do our homework" Hermione stated.

"Fun" She could hear the sarcasm in his voice but decided to ignore it and just smile.

"What happened today?" Hermione asked concerned.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked her confused.

"Why did you hurt Jasmine?"

"I didn't even touch her" Ben looked annoyed.

"I saw you"

"What is it that you saw?"

"Your eyes were very bright and you were super angry. Then desk broke in half and Jasmine was in the floor"

"My eyes were bright?"

"Light was coming out of them"

"Are you sure?"

"I saw it"

"Well, I don't know about that, but I swear I didn't do anything to Jasmine. I wanted to though, she was being very mean to you, but before I could do anything the girl was already on the floor"

Hermione was sure that Ben had had something to do with it, but she just didn't know how. She decided to let it go.

"We should go play monopoly" Hermione stated.

"What is monopoly?" Ben asked, Hermione felt as if Christmas had gotten here early.

"You will love it!" she exclaimed and dragged him to a table where her parents where already sitting.

Hermione took out the game and started explaining all the rules for Ben's sake. She gave them all paper money and started playing. It took them a long time and Ben looked as if he was having fun. Hermione's mother interrupted the game stating it was time for dinner.

"But it is not over yet" Hermione whined.

She was the proud owner of Boardwalk but her father had hotels almost all over the board.

"This game never ends" Her mother smiled.

Hermione agreed and put everything away.

Just as she had planned it, they had fish sticks and chips for dinner.

After dinner Hermione took a not to convinced Ben to the library and they worked on their homework together.

"It is not due until Monday Hermione" Ben whined.

"Which is why we should do it today, that way we have the whole weekend free" She explained.

After they finished, Hermione went for her copy of Little Women and gave it to him.

"Little women? You want me to read a book about little women? I don't even like reading"

"You will love it! Please?" Hermione begged.

Ben made a face but took the book. Not long after that his parents came to pick him up. She got to meet his mother this time, though Ben asked Hermione to call her Lidya. She found it weird that Ben called them by their names but respected him enough to follow suit.

"Did you have fun?"

"Thank you mom and dad" Hermione went to hug her parents "It was the best day of my life" she beamed.

BEN

"Did you have fun? Mr. and Mrs. Granger seem very nice and Hermione seems to be a lovely young girl" Lidya started the conversation once they were in the car.

"It was very fun. We played monopoly and Mrs. Granger gave us fish sticks and chips for dinner"

"Did you like monopoly? Maybe we could play sometime back home" Lidya said happily.

"No. I didn't like it. It was boring and it took too long" Ben said quickly. In reality he had loved it, he just didn't want a reason to spend that much time with her or Joshua. It still felt wrong to be with them as a family.

"Maybe we can find another game then" Lidya tried.

"No. I don't like board games" Ben stated.

The rest of the drive was done in silence.

Once in Berkshire's orphanage, Ben got out of the car and slowly walked into the building. Knowing his friends would already be in their rooms, he walked straight to the empty room he always went to talk to Lily and James.

He closed the door behind him and the balls of light appeared.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger are awesome! I learned a new game called monopoly. Basically is about owning the world and making everyone pay you, it was very fun. No one won though. Hermione made me do my homework even though it is due until Monday but I guess she is right about now having the weekend free to do whatever we want. And she gave me this weird book" He took out the book from his pocket "And made me promise I would read. Thankfully I didn't promise when I would read it, so I will not start tonight" He put the book away.

"Where you there when Jasmine fell today? I am not saying you did anything to her and I didn't see you, but Hermione said that she saw my eyes go super bright. I thought maybe it was you?" Ben waited for some indication of a yes or no from the balls of light "Of course not, you would never hurt her. I have to admit I did want to hurt her though, whatever happened to her stopped me from doing exactly that. I should go to bed now before anyone comes looking for me" Ben got up and Lily and James disappeared, leaving the room completely dark. He carefully maneuvered his way out and towards his room in the floor below.

When he was about the reach the stairs he felt as if someone punched him in the stomach hard. He fell backwards and heard someone or something else fall to the ground.

He got up as quickly as he could to see what or who else was on the floor. It took some time for his eyes to be able to see through the dark but he saw nothing, he kept looking and saw something in the bottom of the stairs. Actually it wasn't something, it was someone. He ran down the stairs and knelt besides the body. It was Katie and she wasn't moving.

"Help!" Ben started screaming as loudly as he could, trying to wake everyone up "Help!"

Noises were starting to be heard and lights could start to be seen.

"Help!" He kept screaming hopping they would hurry up and find him.

After what felt like an eternity children started coming in, between them Paulinne and Josh. Some of the were in shock and some were sobbing.

"Move!" Someone was trying to make a way between the children. Joshua made his way through and knelt beside him. He kept putting a couple of finger in Katie's neck and below her nose. He would say anything to him. Joshua looked scared but not as much as Ben felt.

"What happened?" He asked Ben.

"We bumped into each other, I fell to the ground and she fell down the stairs" Ben started sobbing, she wanted Katie to open her eyes.

"She is dead" Someone whispered.

"No she is not!" Ben yelled back and look for Joshua's eyes for confirmation. Joshua would look at him, he kept doing something to Katie.

"Oh my god!"

"Lidya call an ambulance" Joshua said without taking his eyes off Katie. Lidya ran away from them and towards Mrs. Lovegood's office direction.

Everything is a blur in Ben's mind, he isn't exactly sure of what happened next but Katie had been in the hospital for 3 weeks now. No one but him was allowed to go visit her and he went everyday after school. He took drawings and letters to her from everyone in the orphanage. She still hadn't woken up but the doctor kept telling him that she would very soon. He just hope soon was actually soon, or better yet now.

A couple of times Hermione had gone with him to see Katie. Katie had wanted to meet the girl and Ben was sad that they had met but Katie wasn't awake to see.

"Tell me about her" Hermione smiled. They were sitting in a couple of chairs near Katie's bed.

"She is very smart, too smart" Hermione smiled at him and grazed his hand "She always speaks her mind and hates being left out of anything. One time she got mad at me for not taking her to London"

"London?"

"I went to London with some of my friends a couple of years ago"

"I love London, it is a very beautiful city" Hermione exclaimed.

"We didn't actually were supposed to go, so we went at midnight on a taxi"

"That is very dangerous!" Hermione said in shock.

"We didn't think about that. I wanted to go meet the Dursleys"

"Who are the Dursleys?"

"They are the owners of the house were I was found"

"They are your family?"

"No. I was left on their porch, they saved me"

"They must be very nice people then"

"Mr. Dursley is, his wife is weird and his son is fat"

"Ben!" Hermione looked disappointed.

"He is!" Ben laughed.

"Why didn't you take Katie?"

"She was very young, I didn't like her that much back then" He looked a little ashamed "And she fell asleep" Hermione giggled.

"You like her now?"

"She is all right. She has been a very good friend to me" Ben grazed Katie's hand "Please wake up" He whispered at her.

"Don't worry Ben, she will. The doctor said so" Hermione assured him.

"Hermione is time to go dear" Mrs. Granger came to get her daughter.

"I will see you tomorrow Ben, bye Katie" and they left.

"It's time to go Ben" Joshua came to get him. Ben stood up slowly and kissed the sleeping girl in the forehead. He nodded and walked out.

KATIE

She had been living in this house for what seemed like a really long time. Not that she mind too much, it was cozy. It had large sofa chairs and a fireplace that kept her warm. The kitchen was small but it always had delicious food waiting for her. In the second floor there were two rooms. One with a crib in the middle and toys all over the floor, and one room with a large bed and a large closet with clothes too big for her to wear. The only problem with this place is that there was no one else there and she was starting to get bored and lonely, mostly bored.

She got up from the chair and knocked a vase from the table. Before it could reach the floor it hovered and went back into the table. She just stared at the vase in shock.

"Be careful dear"

Startled Katie turned around to see who had said that. It was a young woman with long red hair, and bright green eyes. She had a very warm smile and was wearing a beautiful long white dress. She looked like an angel to Katie, she could help but smile back.

"I'm sorry"

"No harm done" The woman's smile grew wider.

"I'm Katie" She walked towards the woman to introduce herself "Is this your house?"

"Nice to meet you Katie, My name is Lily. Yes, this is my home"

"You have a beautiful name"

"Not as beautiful as yours, is it short for Katherine?"

"Yes, but I like Katie better"

"Then Katie it is. Are you hungry?" Katie nodded and Lily took her hand guiding her to the kitchen.

"How about a nice noddle soup?" Lily asked her when they reached the kitchen; happily Katie nodded in consent.

The soup was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted, she had never had noddle before this day and decided it was her favorite meal.

The woman was the nicest woman she had ever met, they talked for ages; in reality Katie talked for days and Lily listened.

"Have I seen you before?" Katie asked her.

"No, we've never met"

"Why am I in your house?"

"I don't know, but I am glad you are"

"I am glad too, I don't want to leave"

"I would love for you to stay too" Lily hugged her tight "But you have to go back sometime"

"Why?"

"There is no one you miss?" Lily asked the girl.

"Not really"

"No one?"

"Maybe Ben"

"Who is Ben?"

"He is my best friend" Katie smiled "I am not his, but I don't mind, he is still mine"

"And you don't want to go back to Ben?"

"Maybe he could come here" Katie said happily.

"Is there no one Ben would miss if he comes here?"

"Maybe Hermione, and Lidya and Joshua"

"Do you think is fair to bring him here?" Lily asked her.

"No" Katie sighed.

"If I go back, will I ever see you again?"

"In a way, you will" Lily smiled.

"What do you mean?" Katie was confused.

"You will meet my son very soon" Lily said happily "And I am sure you will become very good friends"

"I will? Where will I meet him?"

"He is closer than you think" Lily said with a knowing smile.

"Is he as nice as you?"

"He is nicer, but I think it is time for you to go back" Lily stood up.

"Can't I stay a little longer?" Katie asked hopefully.

"No dear, it is time" She said lovingly, Katie nodded and when she lifted her head Lily was no longer there "Lily?" she called but no one answered.

Katie wasn't sure how to get back so she stayed by herself in the house a couple of more days, just like before Lily. And just like before Lily, Katie was starting to get bored and lonely once more.

"Do you want to play?" A very hyper voice came from behind her.

She turned around quickly and saw a young man with messy black hair, round glasses and brown eyes. He looked very happy for some reason.

"Who are you?" Katie asked.

"My name is King Prongs" The man put his chest out when he introduced himself making Katie giggle, she stood up and made a curtsey.

"My name is Princess Sophia" Katie introduced herself.

"Well Princess Sophia, it is an honor to meet you" the man kissed her hand "Do you want to play?"

"What are we playing?" Katie asked happily.

"I don't know, but you looked a little bored. I hate being bored" King Prongs announced.

"Can we play monopoly?" Katie asked.

"What is monopoly?" King Prongs asked confused.

"I don't know, a friend of mine played it once and told me it was fun" Katie stated.

"How about we play quidditch?" The man asked excitedly.

"What is quidditch?"

"What is quidditch? You don't know what quidditch is? It is only the greatest game in the world! It is played with three types of balls and on flying broomsticks"

"Broomsticks don't fly silly" Katie giggled.

"Of course they do!"

"Show me" Katie dared.

"I don't have a broomstick" King Prongs looked down sadly which made Katie laugh.

"Do you know Lily?" Katie asked curiously.

"Tall beautiful woman, long red hair, bright green eyes and fiery personality?" Katie nodded "No, I don't know her" He made Katie giggle once more.

"Yes you do"

"Of course I do!" Prongs said with a smile "She is my wife" He said proudly.

"She is very nice" Katie smiled.

"She is the best" Prongs agreed.

He stayed with her quite some time, Prongs was very fun to be with. He was loud and occurrent; he really hated being bored.

Katie skipped a rope, played tag, learned to play chess (she was not a fan of that game), and several other games. She had the time of her life.

"I have to go now" She stated between laughs.

"No!" Prongs whined "Why?"

"I have to go back home" Katie said getting up from the floor.

"But why?" Prongs said sadly.

"I miss Ben" Katie said with a smile.

"Who is Ben? Your boyfriend?"

"Iuk! No!" Katie said disgusted.

"Katie and Ben sitting in a tree…" Katie threw a pillow to his face cutting the song short.

"He is my best friend" She said seriously "He looks a lot like you now that I think about it"

"The he must be very handsome" Prongs said proudly.

"Iuk! No!" Katie said disgusted which made Prongs laugh.

"Say hi to Ben for me" Prongs smiled and disappeared.

Katie somehow knowing what to do, crossed the living room and went to the front door. Before opening the door something called her to the second floor. She walked up the stairs and went into the room where the crib was. It wasn't how she remembered it. There was still a crib in the middle of the room, but for some reason the room felt darker than he remembered. The toys were scattered messily and it looked as if there had been a small fire there. Confused she just closed the door and walked once more towards the front door. She opened it quickly and walked outside.

"Katie can you hear me?" A voice kept trying to wake her up but her head hurt too much, she wanted to keep sleeping. "Katie?"

She opened her eyes and the light hurt them so she closed them back again quickly.

"She is awake" The voice proclaimed, call the doctor. She heard footsteps walking away.

"Katie, please open your eyes" Katie didn't want to obey "Please dear"

Feeling as if she had to, she tried opening them again. This time it didn't hurt as much. There was an old lady in front of her smiling.

"I wanted to see those beautiful eyes for some time now" The woman said with a smile.

A man and another woman came into the room, the man pushed the woman away and started flashing a light into her eyes. It hurt so she tried to push him away, he wouldn't stop.

He told some things to the woman who started writing stuff down. Katie could make out the words.

"How do you feel Katie?" The man asked her, instead of answering Katie decided to go back to sleep.

"Katie?" She knew that voice, she opened her eyes and saw Mrs. Lovegood staring at her "I am so glad you are awake" Katie smiled and went back to sleep.

"Wake up!" a familiar voice ordered, annoyed she opened her eyes and glared at Ben.

"Hi Katie" Ben greeted happily.

"Go away!" Katie stated, Ben looked hurt, it confused Katie. "I was sleeping, come back later" Ben started laughing.

"I brought someone for you to meet" That picked Katie's curiosity "This is Hermione"

A girl with bushy brown hair and huge teeth came near her.

"Hi Katie" She said happily "I am glad to see you are well"

"Sleepy since people keep waking me up" She said annoyed, it made the two people in the room laugh.

"You've been sleeping for a really long time, wake up already!" Ben ordered.

"Don't tell me what to do! If I want to sleep, I will sleep" Katie stated.

"I brought you something" Hermione gave her a small plush toy, it was a small white kitten, Katie woke up and sat up straighter in the bed.

"Thank you!" she took the toy and hugged it tight "It is beautiful. I promise I will take very good care of him"

"Him?" Ben asked.

"His name is Prongs" Katie stated.

"Prongs for a kitten's name? it doesn't seem right" Ben seemed confused.

"My kitten!" Katie stated back "I get to pick the name, the name is Prongs!"

Ben just put his hands in front of him as defense and Hermione laughed.

"Do you remember anything?" Ben asked.

"I met a couple of people" Katie said, Ben and Hermione looked confused.

"Lily was very nice and she had beautiful hair" Katie said.

"Lily?" Ben asked curiously.

"Yes, she said I was going to meet her son very soon. I met Prongs too, he was Lily's wife. He was very fun and looked a lot like you" Katie told Ben.

"Is that why the kitten was named Prongs?" Ben asked laughing.

"Yes" Katie stated.

"When did you meet them?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know" Katie said confused.

"You must have dream it" Hermione smiled.

"It felt real" Katie said, and the older girl just smiled. "If I ever meet her son then we will know if I dreamt it or not I guess"

"True" Hermione said "Do you know his name?"

"Harry" Katie stated, neither Lily nor Prongs had mentioned their son's name, but somehow Katie knew the name was Harry.


	7. Chapter 7

AN ANGEL IS MY HERO

THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE - CHAPTER 7

KATIE

Katie was let out of the hospital on mid-April, suffice to say she was extremely bored of being in a bed, with white walls and visitors for only a couple of hours a day. Ben came to visit her every day with either Joshua or Lidya, Hermione came to see her once a week (they were now very good friends), and Mrs. Lovegood came to see her every sunday morning, too early on Katie's opinion.

She was taken out of the hospital in a wheelchair, which she thought was stupid, she could walk perfectly fine, she actually was dying to walk, but no… they said she had to use a wheelchair. Once outside the hospital she got up from the wheelchair and into Joshua's car with Ben on the backseat. It was her first time in a car, and it wasn't red. It was her first time seeing the city where she lived, it was the first time she was actually conscious about the fact that she was outside the orphanage. It was awesome! She didn't want the drive to end. She hoped the hospital was very far from the orphanage, hopefully even in another country.

She had been told that she had fallen down the stairs and hit her head. She was in a comma for more than a couple of weeks before she woke up. Ben had told her that it had been his fault, but she was sure that it hadn't been, even though she didn't remember a thing. Her head still hurt for a couple of days after she woke up but not anymore.

Only a couple of minutes later they were stopping in front of what she was told was Berkshire Orphanage, she'd never seen it from outside. It was impressive looking, very tall, it looked like a small castle, in a brownish-color and a huge wood entrance door. She loved the idea of living in there, now she could say she was a princess. She made a mental note of telling her friends this, it would make for some new games.

She got out of the car and went inside slowly, helped by Ben. Inside everyone was waiting for her with balloons and a cake, it looked just like her birthday party. It was perfect. She got hugged and giving good wishes by everyone. The cake was a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, the best from both worlds. They gave her a huge card signed by everyone, she was going to cherish it forever she knew. Just like the day of her birthday, there were no presents. Mrs. Lovegood let her keep Prongs after much begging if she promised to keep it out of sight so no one would know she had it. It was going to be their secret. She gave it to Ben for safekeeping.

The think she hated more about being out of the hospital was that Mrs. Lovegood hadn't given her permission to visit Hermione anymore, and Hermione wasn't allowed inside the orphanage, that meant she would probably not see her again. She was determined to keep the friendship though, she could send letters with Ben.

The excitement of being back quickly dissipated. Everything went back to normal the next day. She went back to class, back to her friends, back to the routine. She wasn't sure if she preferred this or the hospital. It was true that know she knew that she lived for the castle, but she had felt like a princess for a day, she was back to feeling trapped. This were the times when she didn't understand Ben, why did he loved this place so much? She wished she could go out. Now that she had seen a car, and even driven in one, she wanted to see a red one!

She was quickly becoming jealous of Ben's stories, she was tired of hearing it instead of living them. For the first time she was starting to feel how Paulinne and Josh felt. She was still very careful on not letting Ben know what she was feeling, she still loved him very much.

"Come in" Mrs. Lovegood was sitting behind her desk "Good morning Katie, how may I help you?"

Katie went in and sat down on the free chair in front of the desk.

"Who am I?" she simply asked.

"Who are you?" Mrs. Lovegood seemed confused "You are a beautiful, fiery and smart girl"

"I mean, where do I come from? How did I got here?" Katie asked.

"You were left here on the first of January a little more than 7 years ago. Mrs. Alec was the one that found you after she heard a knock on the door"

"No letter, nothing?" Katie asked.

"I am sorry dear. You were wrapped in a blanket with the name Katherine sewn In it"

"I've never seen it" She said hopeful.

"Maybe I could forget the rules for a couple of minutes and show it to you" She smiled and went into a cupboard that was on the left wall. She opened it and Katie saw several stuff in there, but couldn't actually see what that stuff was. Mrs. Lovegood took out a red small blanket and gave it to her. Just like Mrs. Lovegood had said, the name Katherine was sewn in it.

"Why?" Katie asked with tears in her eyes.

"Don't fixate on that love, you will never know it and you shouldn't try to understand it" Katie knew Mrs. Lovegood understood the need she felt of knowing why she had been left in the doorstep of an orphanage, why she wasn't wanted by the person who she wanted to meet more than anyone in her life, the woman she wanted to be loved by more than anyone in the world. She promised to be the perfect child, never get in trouble, she promised to be anything she wanted if she could just come back to get her. There was something wrong with her, she knew that, otherwise Lidya would have taken her in.

"It is not your fault. You are perfect just the way you are. You are smart. You are beautiful. You are fiery. You are honest. You are a very good friend. Don't ever feel like you are not enough" Mrs. Lovegood hugged her tight, and the tears came out even faster. Now she couldn't stop the sobbing.

"I don't want to be here" Katie said between sobs.

"I know" Mrs. Lovegood stated, not letting her go.

"I want to have a family. I want to go to school. I want to drive in cars and go outside"

"I know"

"Why doesn't anyone want me?"

"I want you, I love you" Mrs. Lovegood said.

"It is not the same"

"I know it is not the same, and I would do anything for you to have what you want, because you deserve it" Mrs. Lovegood had tears in her eyes and a small smile.

LUNA

"We should go see grandmother today" A dirty-blonde 9 year old girl with grey eyes was having breakfast with her father. She was wearing a couple of large earrings and a butterbeer cork necklace. The house was very odd looking. It had moving pictures, magazines spread around the floor and clothes everywhere.

"We should" her father agreed "Maybe there will be an ephelant there"

"What is an ephelant?" Luna asked very interested.

"I don't know" her father looked excited "A muggle animal I think, we should go and find out"

"Are we leaving now?" Luna asked calmly.

"Now is better than later, don't you think?" Her father asked almost jumping off his chair.

"Now is better than later" Luna agreed.

She went to get a book that was called The boy who lived and put it in a backpack. "I am ready"

"Let's go"

Her father threw floo powder into the fireplace and then, in turns, both went in.

"Where are we?" Luna asked curiously not bothering to get the soot out of her dress.

"My mother gave me this paper to help us get to where she lives. She wrote some notes in it" Her father looked extremely confused.

It looked like a map, but weirdly enough it didn't move or zoomed in and out when she ordered it to. She read the first note on the left out loud.

"Get out of the building and walk one block to the left" She started doing exactly that knowing her father would follow.

There were large metal things all over the place, they had people in them and they were very loud. Luna loved them. People were walking in all directions, they were all wearing funny clothes and not one of them was wearing a pointy hat like hers. She had never seen a muggle before and she thought this was very educational.

When they got to the end of the block she took the piece of paper out once more.

"Cross the street and walk two more blocks" She did just that, her father very far back. He was very excited about everything he saw and he kept asking everyone about everything he saw. Luna felt that was a very good way of learning about the muggles, maybe she should do that as well.

"Hi" Luna greeted a girl that was about her age who was holding hands with what must have been her parents. The girl had bushy brown hair and large teeth, she seemed very friendly, Luna instantly liked her.

"Hi" The girl greeted her shyly.

"I am Luna" she smiled as she introduced herself.

"I am Hermione, this are my parents"

"My father is over there" She pointed at where her father was looking at a weird rock that kept shooting water to the sky. Why was she told muggles didn't have magic? That was magic!

"I have something for you" Luna stated. She opened her backpack and took the book out.

"A book?" Hermione asked curiously and interested.

"It is a very exciting book. It is about this boy with jiggles living inside him that make him a very powerful baby" Luna said smiling and handing the book over.

"Jiggles?" Hermione took the book.

"Jiggles are this small balls of light that live inside some people, they can be good or they can be bad, it depends on the person that is hosting them" Luna explained.

"Thank you" Hermione took the book while looking at her parents.

"I have to go now, I am meeting my grandmother today. I hope you like the book" Luna said while walking away.

When she finished walking the two blocks she took the piece of paper again.

"Turn to the right and you will see a large brown building with a large wooden door. Knock and ask for me" Luna looked back to see how far her father was, very far. And decided to knock without him.

She knocked three times and waiting for someone to let her in.

A woman with blonde hair and a nice small opened the door.

"Good morning, I am looking for my grandmother" Luna stated.

"Who is your grandmother darling?" the woman asked.

"The mother of my father" She said smiling, the woman smiled.

"Do you know her name?"

"Grandmother" she stated.

"What is your name?"

"Luna"

"Do you have a last name?"

"Lovegood"

"I didn't know Emma had a granddaughter" The woman opened the door wider "I am very honor to meet you Luna, my name is Lidya. Please come in"

Luna walked inside and stopped Lidya from closing the door "My father wasn't that far behind me"

He wasn't, he came in almost as soon as she finished talking.

"Did you see that?" He asked her excitedly "There was a water rock. And metal boxes"

"I did" Luna said just as excited "This is my father" she introduced him to Lidya.

"Very nice to meet you Mr. Lovegood" Lidya greeted him smiling.

"Are you a muggle?" He asked.

"A what?" Lidya asked confused.

"I've never touched a muggle before" Mr. Lovegood stated.

Lidya took her hand back quickly. "Please follow me", she took them through a couple of hallways until they reached another wooden door. Lidya knocked and went in by herself, a couple of seconds later she came back for them.

They walked in and Luna saw a very old woman standing in the middle of the room with a huge smile.

"Hi grandmother I am Luna" She introduced herself with a curtsey.

"I saw a rock that cried!" her father stated, her grandmother laughed.

"It is called a fountain" Her grandmother said.

"I thought muggles didn't have magic" Luna said curiously.

"They don't, it is called technology"

Both Luna and her father were very interested on the description of what technology was, but they understood nothing, which just made her grandmother laugh.

"I am so happy that you are here" Her grandmother said with tears in her eyes.

"You are crying" Luna said confused.

"They are happy tears" her grandmother explained.

"You have a very large house" Her father said.

"It is were I live, but it is not a house. It is an orphanage"

"What is an orphanage?" Luna asked.

"It is where kids that don't have parents live until we can find parents for them"

"Maybe Harry Potter is here" Luna told her father.

"Is Harry Potter here?" Her father asked her grandmother.

"Who is Harry Potter?" Her grandmother asked confused.

"The boy who lived" Her father explained.

"He needs help, he has jiggles living inside of him" Luna said concerned.

"There is no Harry Potter here, but I will be on the lookout" her grandmother promised. Luna and her father just nodded.

"Can we see the orphanage?" Luna asked standing up.

"Of course, I will give you a tour"

Her grandmother took them everywhere in the building. To the rooms, the classrooms, the offices, the basement, dining room, the time out room, the yard, everywhere. They saw a lot of children that looked curiously at them when they walked by. Her grandmother explained that those were the children that had no parents and lived there.

"I need to go to the loo" Luna stated.

"I can take you" her grandmother offered.

"No" Luna stated and walked out.

She walked up the stairs and into a room that was far at the end of the corridor. The door was closed. Not really bothering in knocking she opened the door.

There was a boy about her age with long black hair and small glasses. He was very skinny and had bright green eyes. He was sitting in the floor and was startled by her. She had seen the balls of light that had been dancing all around him before they disappeared a second after she opened the door.

"You need to be careful with the jiggles" Luna said.

"With the what?" the boy asked confused.

"The lights" Luna stated.

"What lights?" The boy asked.

"They can get you into a lot of trouble if you are not careful"

"Thank you, but I don't need your advice" the boy said annoyed "Who are you anyway?"

"I am Luna" she walked in to introduced herself.

"I've never seen you before"

"I came to visit my grandmother"

"Who is your grandmother?"

"The mother of my father"

The boy looked very annoyed.

"We will be going to the same school in a couple of years. You in one year, but I will be there the next" She stated.

"What?" the boy was back to confuse.

"You will love Hogwarts. I have never been there, but my father said I will love it and he has never lied to me"

"Ok?" the boy said unsure.

"I have to go now, I was looking for the loo. Do you know where it is?"

"In the floor below to the right"

"Thank you" Luna walked out and went to find the bathroom.

A couple of minutes later she was back with her father and grandmother.

"Harry Potter is here" Luna told her father.

"He is?" his father asked happily.

"Yes, and he has the jiggles"

"Did you tell him about the jiggles and to be careful?" Her father asked "Maybe I can interview him for an article in the Quibbler"

"That would be very interesting" Luna agreed.

"May I interview Harry Potter?" Her father asked her grandmother.

"I am confused" her grandmother stated.

"I think the jiggles are affecting her too" Luna stated.

"Maybe some other time then" Her father said with a shrug.

"Please come back soon" her grandmother begged.

"We will. We have to help Harry" Luna stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Her grandmother just nodded. "You can use my fireplace to go back. I should have a little floo powder somewhere"

"I brought some with me" Her father said and gave a pinch of it to Luna.

"Bye grandmother, I will be coming back" The office with her grandmother and father disappeared in a swirl of flames, seconds later she was standing in her own fireplace.

HERMIONE

"That girl was nice, I think" Hermione told her mom when they were back home.

"She was a little weird but in a very nice way. I liked her" Monica Granger giggled. "What is the name of the book she gave you?"

"The boy who lived" Hermione read from the cover.

"I've never heard of it" her mother stated.

"I think I am going to go to the library to start reading" Hermione walked towards the library in a daze.

No one really knows what happened, how we were saved but we know the name of our savior Harry Potter.

The Potters have always been on the oldest, most powerful and wealthy families of the magical world, so it was a surprise when he married a muggleborn witch named Lily Evans. She was a beautiful and powerful witch who quickly gained the respect of the whole magical world. They got married after they finished their education in Hogwarts in the company of James Potter's best friends, Sirius Black, the sole heir of the Black family who is currently residing in the prison of Azkaban, Remus Lupin, who's whereabouts are unknown, and Peter Pettigrew who was killed by Sirius Black.

Harry Potter was born on the 31st of July of 1980 and he was the only child of James Potter and Lily Potter (nee Evans).

On the evening of Halloween of 1981 the Potter's were attacked by one of their best friends, Sirius Black. Another of their best friends, Peter Pettigrew tried to defend them and was blown by Sirius Black, only a finger was left behind.

"Hermione, is time for supper!" Her mother called her; she closed the book and went to meet her parents at the table.

"How is the book?" her mother asked.

"I am not sure yet, It is about a boy named Harry Potter who is supposed to be the savior of the magical world"

"Magical world?" her father asked.

"It is obviously a supernatural novel" Hermione stated.

"I've never known you too read anything like that" Her father said.

"This will be my first I guess" Hermione shrugged.

"You must tell us what it is about once you finish it. Maybe we can read it too" Her father said.

"Of course! I will read it as fast as I can" Both her parents laughed.

"Not tonight though, you have school tomorrow" Her mother dismissed her.

"Fine" Hermione got up from the table a little disappointed.

"We will be right there to kiss you goodnight" Her parents said.

She walked up the stairs, got ready for bed and waited patiently for her parents. Not even a minute later they came in and both of them kissed her goodnight.

QUIRINUS QUIRRELL

He was tired of being the muggle studies professor at Hogwarts and after a couple of years of applying he had finally been offered the position of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. He had to admit he wasn't the best in the subject, but he was very good at it. He knew Severus Snape had wanted that position for years and the fact that he had been offered it to him over him would make the next year a little difficult, but he didn't care. He got what he wanted. He wasn't supposed to get the position for another year though, after this year the current professor would retire.

Not wanting to be the muggle studies professor anymore he asked for a sabbatical year, and he got it.

He was going to go find He-who-must-not-be-named, sure that if he found him he would learn things no one else knew and would get the respect he knew he deserved. He decided to start his quest in Albania; that seemed logical to him for some reason.

He bought permission for an international floo network trip, he put everything he thought he would need in a suitcase and was ready to go.

Excited about what was to come he walked into the fireplace and began his journey. A couple of seconds later he was vomiting in a hotel's reception floor. Ashamed he took out his wand and cleaned the floor and himself up.

"International floo is not the same as local traveling" The man behind the desk said.

"My name is Quirinus Quirrell. I have a reservation" He stated.

"Oh yes, here you are. There is no departure date" The man said.

"I don't know when I will be leaving yet"

"Business or pleasure?"

"A little of both, but mostly business"

"Here is your key Mr. Quirrell, you room is number 434, you can find it on the fourth floor, 3 doors to your left"

"Thank you" Quirrell took the key and looked for his room.

It was cozy, a four-poster bed, white covers, blue pillows. Wood floor, stone walls. It had a small bathroom with a toilet, a bath and a sink with a mirror above. In the room there was a small empty closet and a big trunk in front of the bed. No pictures or painting on the walls, a large window with dark curtains, which where currently letting the sun in. It was enough for him.

He put his clothes away and took a bath to relax.

He took out a book about Albania, he wanted to know as much as he could to be able to navigate the city, and quickly fell asleep. It would be a year with only good things coming his way, he was sure of it.


	8. Chapter 8

AN ANGEL IS MY HERO

THERE IS MAGIC INSIDE OF US - CHAPTER 8

NOTE: This chapter may be a little strong, I leave most of it to the imagination and do not get into detail.

"No!" Ben cried out, he felt a surge of energy leave his body and he saw the flash of light that hit the man right in his chest. The look of agony he saw in his eyes was one Ben would never forget, one that would bring him nightmares for days to come. He saw how the man was pushed back and how he fell backwards into nothing. Ben didn't want to look closer at what he was sure was going to be the man's body on the ground several stories down, and as in instinct stopped Katie from going closer as well. He grabbed the girl from behind as strong as he could; she kept trying to get free.

Days earlier…

* * *

KATIE

She was getting really tired of the walls that surrounded her daily, now that she had had a brief experience of what was outside of them; it was all she could think about. She wanted to see it again with her own eyes. Mrs Lovegood kept saying no to her going to visit her new friend Hermione. They have been writing to each other daily, well Katie had been writing daily and sending her letters through Ben, Hermione had written her twice a week. She had been back for two months now. Ben was now on summer holiday from school, but he kept seeing Hermione daily. She was feeling a little jealous she had to admit. She tried getting Josh and Paulinne to help her get Ben to stay some days but they didn't put much effort on it and hadn't succeeded even once.

She remembered Paulinne, Josh and Ben getting out one night not that long ago, maybe she could get out too, at least for one night. She was going to try.

That night she went to the girls room to sleep early so no one would see her stay in her clothes and waited for everyone to go to sleep around her. It took a lot of her not to fall asleep as well. Once she was sure it was late enough she carefully got out of the covers and walked as slowly as she could outside of the room. She closed the door behind her and was careful no one was there to see her. The halls were very dark, she could barely see her hand in front of her. So she decided to crawl her way out. It took her a very long time to reach the stars and an even longer time to crawl her way down the three stories. Still no one was in sight. She crawled her way to the front door and stood up. She tried to open it but it wouldn't bulge. She remembered her friends telling her the door had been unlocked when they used tried this, Mrs. Lovegood must have learned to lock it after that. She tried a couple of times wishing it would be unlock somehow but it wasn't. Starting to get frustrated, angry at herself and not wanting to give up she tried once more. As soon as she touched to door knob she heard a loud click, she got scared someone had heard it and looked over her shoulders for someone coming her way. No one did. She turned the door knob and the door opened. She smiled and walked outside, closing the door behind her. She heard the loud click once more. Curiously she tried to open it again and saw that it was locked once more. Deciding she would get worried about it when she came back, she shrugged and happily walked towards the street.

The street was empty except for a couple of cars, there was a park nearby and buildings everywhere. Katie decided to see as much as she could. She walked towards the park first and saw the different types of plants there where. She saw every tree, every flower, every bush. She crossed the street and saw every building she passed by. She pushed her face into every window to try and see what was inside. Some had clothes inside, other only had furniture, others had food. It was like a seeing a different world inside each building and it made her feel excited. She passed several people on her way, some of them saw her curiously others ignore her. Some of them smell very badly. After what felt like hours of walking she started to feel very tired and sleepy, so she decided it was time to go back.

Katie turned around and saw buildings surrounding her, buildings every where she looked, they all looked alike. She had no idea how to get back.

Fear started to feel her whole body, she couldn't think straight, she couldn't move. The world was starting to close into her; she was starting to panic.

"Are you lost?" A man asked her. He didn't smell and he looked concerned. Katie started to cry and shake.

"It is ok, don't cry" The man put a hand on her shoulder, Katie started to calm down enough to talk.

"I don't know where I am"

"It is late and it is very dangerous for a young girl to be in the streets alone, why don't you come with me for the night and I will get you home tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Katie asked, she didn't understand why they had to wait until the next day.

"Right now it is too late to get you back, we would have to wake your parents and they would be very mad don't you think?" The man explained himself.

"I don't have parents" Katie said, the man smiled.

"Then there is no reason why you should go home tonight, we can wait until morning"

Katie thought about getting in trouble not only for going out but for waking everyone up so late so she agreed with the man. She could sleep for a while and think of a way to not get into to much trouble before going back.

She took the man's hand and followed him. She got lost in the way, they took several turns and everything looked exactly the same to her. They finally got to a door, the man took out a key and invited her inside. She saw several girls sleeping in the floor, some of they woke up when they heard the door. Some of the looked her age, others were older and there was one that looked younger.

"Find a place to sleep" The man told her pointing to where the other girls where laying. She walked careful not to step on anyone. One of the girls that had woken up when they came in moved aside to give her a place beside her in the floor. Katie lay there and fell asleep almost instantly.

BEN

"What are you and Hermione doing today?" Lidya asked him as they drove towards the Granger's house.

This time Ben had asked to be driven there earlier than normal, he was starting to feel more comfortable with the Grangers than at the orphanage. Lidya and Joshua asked to spent time with him but he always said he already had plans. Joshua had tried to make him spend more time with them but Lidya always calmed him down stating that it was normal for him to want to be with his friends.

"I don't know" Ben answered. They had no plans for the day.

Ben had started reading the book Hermione had given him the first time he had visited but after a couple of pages he hadn't been able to go on, reading just wasn't his forte. Hermione sadly had accepted it and took the book back.

Since he had walked out of the orphanage earlier he hadn't seen Katie, he had no letter for Hermione this day. Hermione didn't mind the letters but he knew she was starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that she was being written to every day.

She had stated she liked the girl, but that she didn't know her too well to actually see her as a friend. It was more as a "Ben's friend" kind of thing.

They got to Hermione's house and Ben quickly said goodbye and got out of the car.

Ben knocked on the door and in seconds Hermione had pulled him inside. He met her grandmother that day, the Grangers had to work.

Her grandmother told them stories, and taught them how to bake a chocolate cake, it took hours but it was worth it, they ate until they couldn't move any more, Hermione's parents found them in what could only be described as a food comma.

Ben asked if he could stay over the night and called Lidya and Joshua to ask for their permission when the Granger's asked for their consent first. It was a little weird that Lidya said yes almost immediately to Ben's request and didn't ask to speak to the Granger's afterwards, but he wasn't about to question it.

They played monopoly for hours with Hermione's parents and grandmother, just as the first time they had played no one won.

"Don't get me wrong, I love having you over" Hermione started to say. She was laying in her bed while Ben was laying in the floor "Why do you avoid being with your parents, I mean, Lidya and Joshua so much?"

"It is hard to explain" Ben started to say.

"I can try to understand it" Hermione urged.

"It is hard to explain because I don't fully understand it myself"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't feel comfortable with calling them my parents, I feel as if its wrong somehow, as if they were not the people I should see as a family"

"They seem really nice" Hermione said.

"They are, they've never been anything but wonderful to me"

"Do you think they deserve how you treat them?"

"No, definitely not. I just cant help it"

"Yes you can, try harder" Hermione ordered, Ben just stayed silent.

"I can't really understand what your life has been like but for what you've told me it hasn't been bad. You have always been treated well by the people you live with, they have always felt like your family, even Lidya and Joshua, so I don't understand why it should change just because there is a paper that says they are now your parents. In a way they have always been exactly that, and you still live with the same people you've always lived with" Hermione said when she realized Ben wasn't going to say anything, Ben still kept quiet. "My parents are always there to help me in anything that I need, to love me and to support me. That is all Lidya and Joshua want to do for you. Let them"

"Good night Ben" Hermione said after a couple of minutes of slience.

Ben stayed up for a long time after that, thinking of what Hermione had just said. She wasn't the first person to tell him that, Katie used other words but said it often enough. It hadn't changed a thing inside him when Katie had said it and it hadn't changed a thing inside him when Hermione had said it. He knew they were right in everything they said, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of being betrayed and of feeling as he was betraying someone. They should have included him in the decision, it was his life they were deciding on after all. He should have been slowly brought into the possibility, so he could have slowly accept it, but they had decided that a surprise was a better choice. Maybe they thought he would have loved the idea since like Hermione and Katie had stated, it wasn't that much big of a difference from what his life has always been, except for the fact that he was now allowed to get out of the orphanage, but he still felt trapped.

"Ben, wake up" Hermione was shaking him to wake him up "Lidya is waiting for you downstairs"

Groggily woke up and slowly walked downstairs. Lidya looked as if she had hardly slept and was nervous about something.

"We need to go" Lidya stated. Ben knew this wasn't the time to ask what was wrong so he said his goodbyes and followed her to the car where Joshua was waiting. He looked just as tired, but instead of nervous he looked concerned and scared.

Ben got into the car and waited for Joshua to start driving "What is wrong?" No one answered, so he tried again "What is wrong?"

"We will tall when we get home" Lidya stated. Ben didn't try it once more and stayed quiet for the rest of the drive.

Once they got there, he got out of the car and walked inside where there was silence. It was weird for a place full of kids to be as quiet. He went to the dining room and no one was there, no one was in the bedrooms either. He looked through the window and saw every one sitting outside in silence. There were a couple of policemen talking to Mrs. Lovegood.

He went outside and looked for Josh and Paulinne. Paulinne looked scared and Josh was trying to sooth her. Ben walked over and sat with them waiting for them to say something, neither of them did.

"What is wrong?" He was hoping to get an answer from them.

"Katie is missing" Paulinne stated.

"What do you mean she is missing?" Ben asked.

"As in she is not here" Josh said and Paulinne elbowed him.

"She hasn't been seen since yesterday" Paulinne said.

"Maybe she got out just like we did when we went to London" Ben said.

"Except the door was locked, ever since we went to London, Mrs. Lovegood locks the door with a key" Josh stated.

"But there is no other way out" Ben said confused.

"Exactly" Paulinne said "The police are looking for her inside the building since yesterday since there is no way she could have gone out. We slept outside while they looked but they haven't found her"

"There are no windows to the outside, there are stone walls surrounding us and the door was locked. She has to be around here" Ben stated.

"That is what the police thought at first, now they don't seem so sure" Paulinne said in a whisper.

"We know this place better than the police does, we should look for her" Ben started to get up but was stopped by Josh. "They think one of us hurt Katie, we are not allowed to go anywhere"

"They think what?" Ben asked.

"Before you came in, they said that if any of us knew anything we should talk now, it would be worst if they found out later" Josh explained.

Ben knew there was no way any of the people that lived there would ever do anything to Katie, or anyone. He had to find a way to help. The police kept them there the rest of the day, Mrs. Lovegood brought out sandwiches for lunch and dinner. Lidya and Joshua got them blankets and they slept outside that night, them for a second time, Ben for the first time.

KATIE

"Girl wake up" Someone was shaking her. Katie opened her eyes and for a second forgot where she was. The girl that was shaking her awake was the one that had opened up a space in the floor for her to sleep the night before "Here" the girl gave her a piece of bread which Katie took, she was hungry.

"What is your name?" The girls asked.

"Katie, what is yours?"

"They call me Ruby"

"Nice to meet you Ruby" Katie smiled at the girl, the girl looked solemn.

"Why do you look so calm?" Ruby asked confused.

"What do you mean?" Katie asked confused.

"When he got me here I was scared and couldn't stop crying for days" Ruby stated without any emotion.

"What do you mean?" Katie asked.

"Where is your family?"

"I don't have one. I live at an orphanage" Katie started to get up "I have to get back there"

"You are not going back there" Ruby said not moving.

"The man that brought me here last night said he would help me get back today, do you know where he is?" Katie asked looking around.

"He lied" Another girl said not looking at her.

"He doesn't live here, he just brings us here and comes for us when we are needed" Ruby said still sitting in the floor.

"What?" Katie asked not understanding.

"You are now one of us" Another girl stood up and walked towards her "You are pretty and young, you will be needed a lot, at least at first" The girl started to look her over making Katie uncomfortable, she stepped back.

"Needed?" Katie asked.

"Men have needs. They need us sometimes" The girl that was making her feel uncomfortable said "It will hurt, but you will get used to it in time"

Katie had no idea what they were talking about at the moment, but she found out exactly what it was supposed to hurt later that same day. The man had come for her and she had happily gone with him thinking he was going to help her get home. He hadn't.

She still hurt, she felt dirty. She've never felt worse in her life than how she did that night. Most of the other girls were trying to reassure her that it would stop hurting and she would stop caring in time, even the girl that had made her feel uncomfortable who she now knew was named Alessa. As horrible as she felt she instantly felt vey protective of the youngest one of them all, she didn't want that girl to feel like she felt at the moment. Ruby had told her that Gaby, which was the youngest girl there, had been there for weeks but hadn't been taken out yet. Maybe because she was still very young, she was a very beautiful blonde 4 year old, she was French and didn't speak a word of English. Alessa took care of her since she knew a little French.

Katie wasn't able to go to sleep that night, scared of the man coming back.

The next day he did come back but not for her, she took a couple of the other girls who she not know their names yet, one of the girls didn't come back. Ruby and Alessa told her that sometimes they never saw some of them again.

The next day she was rudely woken up and carried to a car by the man that had brought her there. She tried to get free but didn't succeed.

She tried kicking the door of the van, yelling for help and praying for anything for a miracle but nothing happened. The van stopped and the man carried her out to a room where another man was waiting. He was bald and fat, he had the evilest smile she had ever seen and hated how he looked at her, she was left there alone with him for hours.

When she was sure the bald man was asleep she carefully climbed out of the bed and put a large shirt she found on the floor on. She walked towards the door and saw that it opened, she ran out as fast as she could.

She had no idea where she was going but she wasn't going to stop running.

BEN

Before any one woke up Ben got up from the floor and walked towards the entrance. Mrs. Lovegood and the policeman where talking in hush voices right in front of the door. He wanted to help look for Katie. That day he didn't find an opportunity, he was found out by Joshua and was taking back to the yard. At least that night they were allowed to go back inside to sleep, the policemen where now sure that Katie wasn't in the building, they were going to start to look outside. That scared Ben, if Katie was outside, she had been out there by herself for too long.

The next day he asked to be taken to Hermione's house saying he needed to get out of there. Lidya understanding drove him to the Granger's house. Once he got there he explained everything to Hermione, she cried with him and agreed that they had to help somehow, they had to find Katie.

Careful not to be seen they went out on the streets to try and find the younger girl. They looked for hours having no idea where to start, at least Hermione knew the city well enough not to get lost. They asked everyone they could if they had seen Katie, no one had. It was about to get dark and Lidya was about to pick him up, they had to get back very soon when they saw a girl running on the sidewalk in front of where they were. It was Katie and a man was following her close behind.

Ben and Hermione started running towards them not even thinking about how they were going to help, just knowing they had to help.

They ran for blocks until Katie walked into a building the man behind her. Ben and Hermione ran after them into the building and climb the stairs with them. They got to the rooftop and saw the man had grabbed Katie and was slapping her hard. Hermione ran towards them and tried to get the man to stop, scratching and kicking him. The man pushed her aside and Hermione hit her head loosing consciousness.

At the time he had pushed Hermione aside, the man had loose his grip on Katie and the girl had been able to crawl away towards Ben. Ben tried to meet her but the man was running towards her.

"No!" Ben cried out, he felt a surge of energy leave his body and he saw the flash of light that hit the man right in his chest. The look of agony he saw in his eyes was one Ben would never forget, one that would bring him nightmares for days to come. He saw how the man was pushed back and how he fell backwards into nothing. Ben didn't want to look closer at what he was sure was going to be the man's body on the ground several stories down, and as in instinct stopped Katie from going closer as well. He grabbed the girl from behind as strong as he could; she kept trying to get free.

Ben couldn't remember anything he said or anything Katie said after that, it was all a blur of noise. Without thinking and just knowing he could do it, he wished the girl to fall unconscious and Katie did. With a lot of difficulty he carried the girls inside and waited for it to be morning and for them to wake up.


	9. Chapter 9

AN ANGEL IS MY HERO

ALONE IS A LONELY PLACE TO BE- CHAPTER 9

NOTE: THIS CHAPTER IS ABOUT WHAT KATIE THINKS AND FEELS, NOT WHAT SHE SHOULD FEEL AND THINK. IT WILL FOCUS ONLY ON HER, NEXT CHAPTER I WILL GO BACK TO EVERYONE ELSE.

KATIE

For the second time in her life she was living in a white room of a hospital. For the first time she was happy about being there. Just like last time Ben, Joshua, Lidya, Hermione and Mrs. Lovegood came to see her often, unlike last time she didn't want them there.

She didn't remember all the details after being found by Hermione and Ben, she was question by the police a day after she had been taken to the hospital. The first time the police came she hadn't been able to tell them anything, even if she tried her mind wouldn't let her say a word. It would bring her back and get her into panic mode. She felt dirty, she felt used and she felt worthless, what made her try to say something every time the police came was that there were other girls still there and now the man wasn't there to give them food. Was there another man? Those girls needed to be found, they needed to be saved, and she was the one that needed to make that happen. By the fourth time the police came she was able to make progress.

"Help them" she uttered to the woman in uniform that came everyday.

"Help who?" The woman asked coming closer.

"I wasn't the only one" Katie whispered.

"I need your help to find them" The woman stated warmly "I need you to tell me everything you remember"

"I will tell you everything you need to know" Katie said, making a mental note of not telling the woman about her personal experience, about how she had gotten hurt. She didn't need anyone to know about that, especially not a stranger. It was her humiliation to suffer, it was her fault for trusting that man.

"There were about 10 other girls where I was. It was a place with one floor, one room and no furniture. We all slept on the floor. A man came every day to bring us food and take a girl, sometimes more than one. I was only there for three days but one of the girls didn't come back. The oldest one was Alessa, she thinks she is 16 years old, she has been there for years but she is not sure for how many. The youngest one is four, her name is Gaby, she doesn't speak English, she had been there only for a couple of days longer than I was" She stopped to take a breath.

"You are doing very well" The woman encouraged "Is there anything you can remember about the place you were in, a window? Something that you saw that could help us find this place?"

"There was a window but it was covered with pieces of wood, so we couldn't see through it. The door was always locked. It was the first time I had been out of the orphanage so everything seemed new and at the same time all the buildings seemed similar to one another. I remember the door being made of steel"

"A steel door" the woman repeated and wrote on a notepad.

"It always smelled bad"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think the girls showered often, I didn't shower once while I was there" Katie said "When we were taken out, we were carried into a large white car, it had no windows"

"Where were you taken to?" The woman asked.

"Once it was time to pick us up, we were carried back to the car and back to the room with the other girls"

The woman didn't press on the matter "I think it is enough for today, thank you Katie" She walked out of the room and left her alone.

In her mind everyone had fault on what had happened to her. Ben had fault because he made her want what he had, Lidya and Joshua had fault for refusing to adopt her and give her a chance, Mrs. Lovegood had fault for refusing to visit Hermione once in a while, Alessa, Ruby, Gaby and the other girls had fault for being there and not knowing a way out or helping her out, Paulinne, Josh and Ben had fault for telling her how they had gotten out once, Hermione had fault for not trying on her part to see her, but most of all she had fault for going with that man and for letting those man hurt her. She would never let anyone hurt her in any way ever again. She would never trust anyone like that ever again. She promised herself she would never let anyone treat her as if she was worthless. She knew she was worthless, otherwise this wouldn't have happen to her, but everyone else didn't need to know that.

She had visitors that day, just like every day, but for the first time she felt strong enough to not let them in, she didn't really know who had visited and she was not disturbed for the rest of the day. She was left alone with her memories and thoughts, until she made a resolve to not let this drag her down. It wasn't fair, it was her fault, but she will help the other girls. She wasn't going to give up on them.

The next day the policewoman came back, she kept telling her what her name was every time she came in, but it just wouldn't register in her mind. She was just the cop.

"How are you today Katie?" Katie just nodded.

"Are you up to continue where we left off?" Katie nodded once more.

"What else can you tell me?"

"I wanted to get out of the orphanage for just a couple of hours, I wanted to see what Ben kept telling her about every day, I wanted to experience it for myself. I went to a park, and I walked through the streets. After a while I got tired and realized I was lost. I started to panic. A man came to me and offer to help, I agreed to go with him for the night and get back to the orphanage in the morning" Katie had to stop talking at this point, the anger she felt at herself was a little more than she could manage.

"It wasn't your fault" The woman tried to reassure her.

"I believed him" Katie stated icely.

"You should have looked for a police or called the emergency line, but it is not your fault to have believed he was someone that could help"

"I was never taught how to handle anything like that" Katie looked at her with no emotion.

"You were not taught who or how to get help?" The woman asked concerned.

"We are not allowed to go out, so we are not taught how to live outside those walls" Katie stated, the woman looked concerned and angry at the fact.

"How did you get out?"

"I walked out the front door"

"The door was locked"

"It opened" Katie stated, she knew the door had been locked, but she also knew it had open for her, the woman wrote something down.

"Do you remember anything about the walk to where the man took you? Anything can help"

"We walked several blocks, I am not sure how many, but the buidlings weren't that tall anymore, then there were only houses, I think they were houses, they didn't look like the ones on our textbooks though. Most of them didn't have windows, some of them had large steel doors, some of them were huge though only one story high, others were small and with small steel doors. The walls seemed to be made of steel as well. We walked through them until we reached a small one with one of the small doors. He took out a key and invited me in. it was an open space, no furniture and about 10 girls sleeping on the floor. Some look young, some looked a little bit older but still young. One of them, Ruby, moved aside for me to be able to sleep beside her"

"This seemed normal to you?"

"No, but nothing at that night was normal to me. How was I suppose to know how houses are like, how people actually sleep, maybe this was just their way"

The woman nodded for her to continue.

"The next day I was woken up and someone gave me a piece of bread for breakfast. I was waiting for the man to come back, I was told he didn't live there with them, so I could go back home. He did come back but not to take me home"

She paused and the woman waited silently for her to continue.

"I've already told you the rest" Katie finished.

The woman closed her notepad and walked out.

Katie was left alone for the rest of the day. The woman didn't come back the next day, nor the next.

"I've been looking for you, They didn't want to tell me where you were" The voice took her out of her trance. Who she saw was someone she didn't expect to see, she didn't want to see and at the same time was very happy to see. Katie started to cry.

"They found us" The girl was smirking.

"I'm so sorry" Katie said between sobs.

"Why?" The older girl looked confused, she was still standing at the door.

"I left you there"

"You got away. To tell you the truth I wouldn't have tried to help you if I were in your position" She stated coldly, Katie stayed quiet in shock.

"What am I supposed to do now?" the older girl didn't wait for Katie to answer "I am supposed to go back to my family. That is what I was told, they are somewhere around the hospital actually, surely trying to find me since I am not in my room. I am supposed to have a normal life now. What is normal?" She stopped for a second but didn't let Katie say a thing before continuing "He cared for us, he asked one thing from us in return, I told you that it wouldn't hurt in time but you had to ruin it for the rest of us"

"What?" Katie was confused.

"You said you didn't have parents, so I thought you would understand. I have parents but they never cared for me, there was never food at my house, I sometimes slept at the streets since my so called parents wouldn't let me in or couldn't let me in, who cares the reason. That man gave me a roof, that man gave me food. I was never hungry, I was never cold"

"I don't have parents, but I have food and a roof. Believe me, what he gave you is not what you deserved, you deserve more than that" Katie stated.

"You killed him, there was no one to bring us food for days" the girl shrugged, "Gaby is happy with her parents I saw her on my way here. Ruby's parents are nowhere to be found; that is what she was told"

"Then I am glad you were found" Katie stated.

The girl nodded.

"Alessa" Katie stopped her from leaving "I promise you will feel different about it soon"

"Do you feel better since you were found?" Alessa asked, Katie wasn't able to answer, "I didn't think so" Alessa left.

A couple of minutes later a girl that looked a little older than Ben but that she had never seen before came into her room running and crying. She crashed into her and gave her a hug.

"Thank you" She said between sobs "Thank you" she kept repeating. Harshly Katie pushed her away and the girl made an attempt to recover herself.

"I am Fleur Delacour, you helped us find my little sister. I am forever in your debt"

"Who is your sister?" Katie asked curiously.

"Gabrielle" the blonde beautiful girl responded; Katie instantly calmed down.

"Is she ok?" she asked concerned.

"Yes, a little malnourished but nothing of concern. She is now back with us and we have you to thank" The girl, Fleur said.

"I am glad she is back with you" Katie said sincerely, she had been worried about Gaby most of all the girls.

"We will be going back home tomorrow" Fleur stated, Katie just nodded.

"Please take care of her" Katie begged.

"I owe you" Fleur said, bowed slightly and got out of the room.

Katie still refused to let anyone in to visit for the next couple of days, the policewoman didn't come back, for what she heard from the nurses the killing of that man had been ruled as self defense and they were not in trouble. That didn't make her feel better and at the same time it did. She felt bad about seeing some die but she was glad that man was dead and couldn't hurt anyone anymore, does that make sense? It didn't to her. It was too confusing and it was all she could think about. She always had headaches and she was constantly dreaming about Lily and Prongs. None of them ever told her anything in her dreams, but their faces were always there for some reason. She wished she could go back to Lily's house and stay there, she now knew that she had made a mistake by coming back to her life. She would be ok, she knew that, in time she would learn to live with what happened, she just wished time would go faster so she could feel better now.

After 3 weeks of being in the hospital she wasn't able to convince her doctor to stay and was let go. Mrs. Lovegood came looking for her to take her back to the orphanage.

"I think you would appreciate walking back?" Mrs. Lovegood asked her, Katie hadn't thought about the possibility but it sounded like a great idea. It scared her since that was how she had gotten in trouble in the first place, but this time she wasn't alone and it wasn't night, so she nodded in agreement.

"I won't even try to imagine how you feel or what you think, I wont try to understand what you went through, unfortunately is something that you have to work through it and everyone who loves you will be there to help you in any way you need to, I want you to know that, I hope you already knew that" Katie only listened.

"Some years ago there was a girl in the orphanage that went through something similar to you, she is not here to help you with it but she had a son who you know, Kurt. Please don't repeat any of this to any one, it is his decision who he wants to tell. He did ask if it were a good idea for him to tell you about what he know of his mother's story, I told him I would let you decide" Katie didn't know the story of anyone in the orphanage from before they got there, she just assumed no one knew anything just like her. She was curious about what Kurt had to say but she wasn't ready to talk about it with anyone else yet, nor she wanted to know about someone who had a similar story, she still needed to feel as if it was something that only happened to her and not to think about the fact that it could be something normal in a lot of people's life, even though she knew other girl's who had live it, like Alessa and Ruby.

"Not yet" she whispered and Mrs. Lovegood nodded.

"They all know something happened to you though not everyone knows what" Mrs Lovegood started to say but was interrupted by Katie "Who knows the whole story?"

"No one knows the whole story, but the ones who have a better idea of what happened are Mr and Mrs Alec, Ben, Paulinne, Josh and Kurt"

"Ben told them?" Katie felt angry and betrayed, why had he decided to tell something that wasn't his to tell.

"I am sure he wanted you to have someone to rely on when you came back" Mrs Lovegood defended Ben.

"It wasn't his decision to tell" Katie snapped.

"I've asked everyone to not ask you about it and to treat you as always" Mrs. Lovegood said.

"I don't want to be treated like always" Katie said "I want to be left alone"

"It is not a good idea for you to be alone, you need the support of the people that love you" Mrs Lovegood tried.

"That is for me to decide, not you" Katie said and started walking a little slower to be able to be a few step backs and not have to talk to the older woman. Mrs Lovegood seemed to understand this and gave her that space; she kept looking back maybe to make sure she was still following.

After a couple of minutes they reached their destination. Mrs Lovegood waited for her at the door, she took a deep breath and walked in. At least she was glad that this time there was no party waiting for her at her arrival, no one was at the entrance.

"They know you came back today but I didn't tell them at what time" Mrs Lovegood told her seeming to understand what Katie was thinking.

"Thank you" she said.

"Do you want something to eat?" Mrs Lovegood asked.

"Is everyone eating?" Katie asked

"They should be" Mrs Lovegood answered looking at her watch.

"Then I think I will go lay down" she didn't wait for Mrs Lovegood to say anything and just walked towards the girl's room. She didn't come acroos anyone thankfully and there was no one in the room. She went to her bed and slept the rest of the day.

She was back at Lily's living room, everything was exactly as she remembered and sitting right in front of her was Prongs. She didn't want to talk to him, she didn't want him there. He walked towards her and tried to put a hand on her shoulder. She cringed and quickly took a step away. He looked at her sadly and took a step back as well to give her more space.

"I know it doesn't feel like it, but everything will be alright with time" Prongs tried to reassure her.

"Nothing will be alright ever" She answered icely.

"Maybe right is not the word we should use, you will learn to not let it define you" Prongs tried.

"Please go" She felt very uncomfortable with being alone with him, he just really wanted him to be gone. She closed her eyes for a couple of seconds and when she opened them he wasn't there anymore. In his place there was Lily. She ran towards her and started to cry in her arms.

"I am right here, I am right here" Lily kept trying to sooth her.

"Why?" Katie asked between sobs.

"You were able to help a lot of girls who had gone through worse than you, try to think about how much you helped" Lily tried "I know it doesn't take away what happened to you, but through all that bad it came something good. How did seeing Alessa or meeting Fleur make you feel?"

"I was glad they were out of that place, I was glad Gaby was back with her family" Katie calmed down a little but tears still came out.

"You helped them" Lily looked her straight into her eyes and gave a little smile.

"I can help" Katie agreed.

"You've already have" Lily stated.

"I can do more, I know I can" Katie stated.

"I am sure you can" Lily agreed.

"I will help, I don't know how but there had to be something I can do. I need to make sure no other girls go through that" Katie was now determined.

"Help as much as you can but keep in mind that you can't save the world, you can lead by example and help the world save itself" Lily said.

"I can't do it while I am a prisoner" Katie stated.

"A prisoner?" Lily asked.

"I am not allowed to leave the orphanage" Katie explained.

"Before you can even think about helping others you have to help yourself. You need time to heal, don't try anything just yet"

"I think the only way I can heal is by helping others" Katie said.

"You can't help anyone be in a better place if you are not there yourself. You are not ok"

"No, I am not ok"

"Heal, let the people that surround you help, let them in. It will take time. When you feel like you can start helping others then think about how you can help" Lily said "Figure it out when you have to, not before"

"Why can I only see you when I am asleep?" Katie asked.

"It is a special something that is inside you" Lily explained pointing at her heart "You still haven't figure out exactly what it is, you will, when you do you will be able to talk to me when you need to, and not only me"

"What do you mean?" Katie asked confused.

"You will understand in time" Lily explained.

"Who else will I be able to talk to?" Katie asked "Prongs?"

"Yes, and a lot of more people if you wish to, but not yet" Lily smiled.

"I want to stay here" Katie begged.

"It is not your place to stay" Lily smiled.

"Please let me stay" Katie begged once more.

"It is time for you to go back" Lily disappeared and Katie opened her eyes to see the girl's room at the orphanage. All the beds around her were occupied by sleeping girls and the window helped her see it was very dark outside. She decided to stay exactly where she was and wait for the morning to come.


	10. Chapter 10

AN ANGEL IS MY HERO

DECIDE WHO YOU WANT TO BE - CHAPTER 10

BEN

The summer holidays were here very fast. Ben was trying to be more time at the orphanage with Katie than with Hermione but the younger girl was making it clear that having Ben there was the last thing she wanted. She avoided him as much as she could, which was always. After almost a month Ben gave up and started giving Katie the space she wanted. Not being able to help her gave him a new resolve to help whoever he could and would let him. He didn't know how, but he knew there was something inside him that made it possible, he just needed to really want something bad to happen and it would.

Whenever he saw someone being mistreated he would just hate the person with all his being and what he still called karma would make sure justice was made. Hermione had figured out what was happening and did not approve, that had made them a little estranged. She would huff every time Ben did something she didn't approve and stop talking to him for days at a time. This made him even angrier whenever he saw an injustice and started hating people that did simple things he didn't approve like yell, look at someone the wrong way, etc.

While he was walking with Hermione back from the corner store towards her house, he saw a little boy searching through a dumpster, his clothes looked worn out, his hair looked dirty and his eyes looked sad. Before Ben could even say anything a policeman approached the boy and pulled him out of the dumpster roughly and starting yelling at the boy which made the little guy cry. Hermione was outraged and started screaming at the policemen and hug the little boy; that only made the policeman yell at her too. Ben started concentrating on hating him until he felt that feeling he called karma and let it out, the policeman was thrown into a car and people approached to help him. He wasn't badly hurt but made him forget about Hermione and the little boy.

Hermione looked torn between feeling grateful to Ben and being angry at the way he had helped. She was sure that whatever had happened Ben had made it happened since she had seen it several times before. Anger won. Hermione gave the boy the bread she had bought and then turned to Ben, she didn't have to say a thing, the way he looked at him said everything. Ben was a little scared of the girl when she got like that, she had the gift for making people feel very bad about themselves. He was sure he was doing the right thing, that man didn't have the right to yell at his friend nor the little guy, but that look made him question himself for a couple of seconds, only after Hermione turned around and walked away did he remembered he should feel proud and got mad back at the girl. Her walked the other way towards the orphanage. He shouldn't have, he wasn't allowed to be alone at the city but he didn't think about that.

On the way he saw a little girl take a toy from a baby and wished a bee to sting her, he saw a father reprimanding a son and wished for a bird to poop on him. Several other things bothered him on the way and he dealt with every single one of them. It was becoming easier for him to control karma and he felt empowered. No one could ever do anything to him and he would make sure that the ones that weren't able to help themselves wouldn't be mistreated either, he would fight their fights.

Ben finally reached the orphanage and knocked on the door when he tried to open it and failed. Lidya was the one that let him in and was scared about him getting there by himself. He got a sermon from her for doing something he knew was wrong and dangerous. He just wasn't in the mood, he got angry and let karma out. Lidya started scratching all over and forgot about Ben, apparently karma had made her itchy.

Ben left her there and walked towards his room, on the way he bumped into Katie, that made him calm down immediately.

"Katie" he whispered and smiled lightly.

The girl looked at him and kept walking, that made him angry and confused.

"What?!" he yelled angrily at her.

She halted and turned towards him.

"Why are you so mad at me?" Ben asked sadly.

"I am not mad at you" Katie answered without emotion.

"Yes, you are" Ben answered and Katie shrugged.

"Why?" Ben asked again.

"I am not mad at you" Katie stated once more and walked away.

Ben reached his room, slammed the door behind him and waited for Lily and James to appear.

"Katie doesn't like me, Hermione doesn't like me, Paulinne and Josh doesn't like me" He started ranting "Well, I don't like them!"

The chair in his room started catching fire, it scared him and the fire immediately disappeared. He looked at it again and the fire reappeared he stopped his focus and the fire disappeared, he did this several times until he understood it was him. He smiled and started letting other things in the room catching fire; the bed, the chair, the wardrobe, his toys. The fire came and left, the things were left unscathed. Ben forgot about dinner and kept playing with this new thing that he still thought as karma until he was so tired he fell asleep on the floor.

KATIE

Katie was walking towards the yard when she bumped into Ben.

"Katie" Ben whispered and smiled lightly.

The girl looked at him, decided to ignore him and kept walking.

"What?!" he yelled angrily at her.

She halted and turned towards him.

"Why are you so mad at me?" Ben asked sadly.

"I am not mad at you" Katie answered without emotion.

"Yes, you are" Ben answered and Katie shrugged.

"Why?" Ben asked again.

"I am not mad at you" Katie stated once more and walked away.

It was true, she wasn't mad at Ben, he hadn't done anything to her, but she still didn't want him near her. She was now 100% sure that Lidya had never adopted her because of Joshua, she was sure her mother had gave her up because of his father. Men were evil, they all were the same; Ben was not evil because he was not a man, but he will become one. He made her feel uncomfortable and angry at what he would be become in a few years. She avoided Josh and Ben equally, just like everyone else. She had stopped talking to Paulinne since she was never alone and had become very close to the girls her age that lived there. They hated the boys as well, not for the same reasons as her, but they thought boys were silly and stupid.

She reached the yard and found the girls whispering, but acknowledge her happily.

"Hey Katie!" one of them greeted.

"Hi, why are you whispering?" She asked curiously.

"Theo was being mean today to Helen but Mrs Lovegood saw and Theo is now in the time out room" they explained quickly.

"It figures, he is a boy" Katie said angrily.

"I know! Boys are mean" one of them agreed and quickly the other followed.

"Lets promise that we will never let a boy be mean to any of us" She said very seriously, the others promised.

Katie was taking this more seriously than the other girls, but she promised herself that one day they would take it as seriously as her.

The girls quickly forgot about Theo and started playing tag between them, Katie played with them but wasn't into it. She didn't like to play any more, it felt weird, as if she wasn't allowed.

Lily looked at her sadly. "You are letting to much hate into your heart baby girl"

"I do not hate anyone" Katie said stubbornly.

"The way you talk about the boys you live with is with hate" Lily said tenderly.

"I don't hate them, I am just helping myself and the other girls" Katie answered.

"Helping?" Lily asked.

"Yes, they will never get hurt" Katie stated.

Lily hugged the girl and a single tear ran down her cheek "What happened to you was horrible and unfair, you didn't deserve that, but you can't blame every one for that. There is only one to blame and he is already being punished. Not every boy you meet will be like that, there are bad people but there are good ones too. Don't push the good ones away because you are afraid of the bad ones"

"How do you know which ones are good and which ones are bad?"

"Follow your heart and your instincts, give people a chance" Lily said with a sincere smile.

"I did" Katie stated with venom in her voice "I won't do it again"

Lily's smile vanished.

"I would love to help you, if I could I would make that man pay" Prongs said icely.

Katie looked at him angrily "You are as bad as him" Prongs looked confused and hurt.

"He wants to help you, he just doesn't know how to do it" Lily said while looking at Prongs angrily.

"He is bad as well, he doesn't care about hurting others. He just said it" Katie yelled.

"No baby girl, not all of them are bad" Lily tried again.

Katie got herself out of Lily's embrace and didn't answer.

"Never let hate take over, the world and life is beautiful. I want you to be happy" Lily said.

"We will always be here for you, and I will keep my distance until you need me ok?" Prongs said sadly.

"Go" Katie said and Prongs disappeared.

"Do you want me to go?" Lily asked.

"No" Katie answered.

Lily sat down on the sofa "Do you want to tell me something?"

"No" Katie stated; she lay on the sofa in front of Lily and fell asleep.

HERMIONE

Hermione was walking back from the corner store towards her house with Ben when they saw a little boy searching through a dumpster, his clothes looked worn out, his hair looked dirty and his eyes looked sad.

A policeman approached the boy and pulled him out of the dumpster roughly and started yelling at the boy which made the little guy cry.

"Stop it, he is a little boy!" Hermione was outraged and started screaming at the policeman, she hugged the little boy and could feel him tremble; that only made the policeman yell at her too.

The policeman was thrown into a car and people approached to help him. He wasn't badly hurt but made him forget about her and the little boy.

Hermione was torn between feeling grateful to Ben and being angry at the way he had helped. She was sure that whatever had happened Ben had made it happened since she had seen it several times before.

Anger won.

Hermione gave the boy the bread she had bought and then turned to Ben, she didn't have to say a thing, the way she looked at him said everything.

She could see Ben felt ashamed of what he had done but he always felt ashamed when she got mad and still kept acting that way. She was tired of it, how could he not know it was the wrong thing to do? The goal didn't justify the means. Hermione turned around and walked away, Ben didn't follow but she didn't realized it until she reached her house.

"Where is the bread?" Her mother asked when she walked in "Where is Ben?"

"Mrs. Alec picked him up" it was the first thing that came to her mind, she was angry at Ben for making her lie to her mother and worried about him. She was sure he had opted to go home, she just hoped he got home without any trouble.

"And you walked back by yourself?" Her mother asked between angry and worried.

"No, she brought me here but she was in a hurry" Hermione answered quickly. She hadn't realized the danger she could have been by walking by her self, hadn't she learned with what happened to Katie? True, she didn't know she was walking by herself, but still!

At least she had helped her mother feel better about every thing; she knew her mother would never even imagine Hermione could ever lie to her. She now felt like the worst daughter in the world. She had to make it up to her mother. She had to.

"Why don't we do something tomorrow?" Hermione asked.

"What do you mean?" Her mother asked curiously.

"Something just you and me" Hermione said.

"You are making plans without me?" Her father had walked into the room, Hermione now felt awful.

"I am just joking Hermione, I think a girls day is a perfect idea" Her father said quickly with a genuine smile.

It did make Hermione feel better but still not entirely.

"I think a day with my daughter is a perfect day" Her mother said with a huge smile.

Hermione hugged her and promised herself never to lie to her again. Not ever.

"Where is the bread?" Her mother asked again.

"There was a boy that looked hungry" Hermione whispered, her mother's smile grew even more.

"I don't think your father will mind not having bread for dinner" Her mother stated.

"You are the most beautiful girl inside and out" Her father told her very proudly "After your mother of course" he laughed.

"Go get ready for dinner" Her mother said and Hermione hurried upstairs.

She was about to wash her hands when she saw the book Luna had given her, she had already finished it, but for some reason started it again. She found it fascinating. It was about a baby who had saved a whole secret world filled with magic and about all the people that loved that baby. It was a beautiful and tragic story. Like in every story there were the bad guys as well, and in this story they had lost just like in every one she had read before, with the difference that the hero has lost too. She wished there was more to the story than what was in the book. She wanted to know what had happened to the baby, if he had had a happy life. He must have, he was the hero. The heroes always lived happily ever after. Maybe this book was a part of a series and this was only the first one, she needed to find the next book. She would look for it the next time she went to the store.

She often dreamed that she was a witch and that she lived in this world, that she went to this wonderful school called Hogwarts where you could find friendly ghost and talking paintings, with secret tunnels and a mysterious forest around it. She had told her parents the story and they had even read it too, they didn't find it as fascinating as her but they said it was a different and full fantasy story. She secretly was waiting for her eleventh birthday to come to see if an owl would appear with an acceptance letter, just like in the book. She didn't have to wait too much, just a couple of months. She will maybe be in a new world in a year, how wonderful would that be?

"Hermione!" her mother was calling from downstairs.

"Coming!" she yelled back. She ran to wash her hands quickly and back to her parents.

It was a beautiful family dinner, her father told them about work just like her mother. She told them about the book again, and how she figured there must be a second one. Her mother promised they could go look for it the next day. They planned what they would do, of course go to the bookstore, have a picnic in the park, go shopping and have a spa day.

She couldn't wait. She was very excited; she forgot all about what had happened with Ben.

LUNA

"It must be a very fun plan" her father said excidetly.

"It is not a plan" Luna said.

"I thought you wanted to go visit your grandmother often, but you haven't wanted to go again" her father said knowingly.

"It is not time yet. The jiggles are too strong right now on Harry, he needs to let them go first" Luna stated sadly.

"The ones that have the jiggles sometimes need help to let them go" her father took her hands.

"Not him, he is very strong. He can do it by himself" Luna stated.

"Why not help even if he can be strong enough?" her father asked her "Everyone needs to know there are people there who will always be there to help even when they don't ask. That is what friends are for"

"He needs to know he is strong enough" Luna said.

"Luna" her father started "There are other ways to find your strength, being left alone, without information and expecting him to figure everything out is not the right way. That harms the ones we love. I know you are not really friends, not yet. But you and I know you will be and because you know that you already love him, so you should already care. Don't treat him like a piece of chess"

Luna had never heard her father talk like that. He was always fun, never serious.

"But the jiggles…" she started.

"No one has ever said that you cant help another get rid of the jiggles. If he can be strong enough to get rid of them himself, imagine how strong and how quickly together you can get rid of them?" he smiled.

"We should go visit my grandmother"

"We should" her father agreed.

"How can I help him? Have you ever gotten the jiggles?" Luna asked.

"No, but we can investigate" Her father said excitedly and ran towards the Quibbler room. That was were all the copies of the Quibbler magazines ever printed where, and they had all the information they could need.

That is what they did the rest of the day, read everything they could find about the jiggles.

"I have never seen them personally, but what everyone who has had them say they look like little stars, little balls of light that follow you everywhere. They can either be good or bad, no one knows how to differentiate them or why some are good or bad, or why they choose you. But what we do know is that they will only leave when you are strong enough to say no to what they ask you to do" Her father read out loud.

"Here is an interview from someone that had the jiggles: They never talk to you but somehow you learn to understand them, to know that they are the ones that are making every day decision for you, they start controlling you until you let them. When I found out I had the jiggles it was too late, I had already hurt the ones I loved, I had the misfortune of getting the bad jiggles. It was very difficult but I got rid of them eventually" Luna read "It doesn't say how she got rid of them though.

"Keep looking" her father said eagerly "I helped a lot of people before I found out I had the jiggles, but as soon as I found out they disappeared. I tried everything to get them back but up 'til today I haven't been successful"

"She got rid of them without even wanting to" Luna said confused.

"Maybe the good ones leave as soon as you figure them out, the bad ones are the ones we should be worried about. Do you know which one Harry has?"

"I am not sure, but I don't think is the good ones" Luna said sadly.

"What do you know?" Her father asked seriously.

"I don't actually know anything, I just feel" Luna said.

"That is exactly what you mother used to say. She couldn't explain it, she just always knew everything and was never one wrong. I am so glad and proud you are just like her" He said smiling, Luna smiled back.

"Does your mother know what jiggles are?" Luna asked.

"No, I learned that and everything else from your mother. My mother decided she could do more for the muggle world than for ours" he said without any anger in his voice, Luna could actually even be sure that his father was proud of his mother.

"We could go tomorrow to the muggle world" Luna suggested.

"I think that is a marvelous idea" he agreed.

They kept reading through the Quibblers and learned a lot about the jiggles, especially from the ones that had been edited by Luna's mother, her father had admitted that he had rarely heard about them. They had learned how they work, how good or bad they could be, and how they looked like or how to know if you had them. But they could find how to get rid of them when the ones you had where the bad ones, and not even one story where anyone had had help from someone else. Some had even died without ever getting rid of them.

Maybe she didn't know how to help, but she had decided that she would be right there figuring it out with Harry; like her father said: it wasn't fair to let him fight a war alone when he didn't even know he was fighting one and expecting him to win.

When has there ever been heard about someone fighting a war by themselves? Even the muggles sent thousands of soldiers to wars (she had read about it in a Quibbler that her mother had published about everything in the muggle world), why did she expect Harry to fight it by himself. Did she have the jiggles as well? No, that wasn't it. She knew that Albus Dumbledore expected him to fight that war by himself and learn by himself and she had believed it was the best way to do it, he was Albus Dumbledore after all. Like her father said, sometimes knowing too much is what makes us do things the wrong way, she needed to start following her feelings and not what she knew what was going to happen. If she knew what was going to happen, who said she couldn't change it? Who would know besides her?


End file.
